Irish U-16s make ideal start

Both the Irish under-16 boys and girls got their EuroHockey Youth Nations Championships off to flying starts, winning 5-1 and 4-0 respectively.

The girls hammered Lithuania 4-0 in their opener with Chloe Watkins opening the scoring from the stroke spot early on. Ireland continued to dominate, demonstrating stronger skills and structure and were rewarded when Galway’s Lindsey Trainor netted before her clubmate, Tara Melvin made it 3-0 by half-time.

A comfortable second half saw Ireland add a fourth from Vanessa Surgeoner. Coach Una McCarthy was pleased with the start, syaing "I am very happy with the way the girls played. We stuck to our game plan and I am very happy to come away with four goals."Ireland will now play the Czech Republic tomorrow with a win likely to see the side into the semi-finals.

On the boy’s side, Austria were the victims with Stephen Dowds putting the boys in green in front after eight minutes with a reverse from a tight angle. Glenanne’s Shane O’Donoghue doubled the lead but the Irish were forced to endure a tough spell and conceded when Sonder Bele capitalised on a defensive error to roof the ball to make it 2-1 by the break. A much better second half, though, saw Dowds net a drag-flick before playing an integral part in the fourth goal, freeing up Ian Sloan to score.

And the rout was complete when Shane Madeley played in Fingal’s Andrew Shekleton to fire in another reverse.With Holland beating Russia 5-1, a win there should see the Irish advance to the semi-finals if they beat the Russians at 6pm on Wednesday.