Sunday, November 22, 2009

Cockram's golden goal gives Ireland third place



World Cup Qualifiers
Ireland 2 (David Ames, Timmy Cockram) Czech Republic 1 (Stepan Bernatek) after golden goal extra-time
Timmy Cockram’s golden goal winner against the Czech Republic in the World Cup Qualifier third/fourth play-off today did little to paper over the cracks of a disappointing week in Argentina for Ireland’s men.

Cockram struck from a penalty corner swich to eventually break the resistance of towering goalkeeper Filip Neusser and earn a 2-1 win.

Ireland dominated possession throughout but once again found the Czech netminder in top form. He would later claim the goalkeeper of the tournament crown, an accolade he also achieved in Wrexham at the Europeans and is regarded as one of the world's best. His value to the team can be seen in the fact he sat out the 9-0 loss to Belgium.

At the height of Ireland's pressure, David Ames gave Ireland a first half lead in a physically tough yet highly entertaining game. He completed a brilliant move as Conor Harte's overhead fed Ronan Gormley racing down the right. His pass was hit in first-time on the reverse by Ames over Neusser. But it was all the Irish had to show for a first half full of attacks.

And, as they had done in Thursday’s 2-2 loss, the Czechs developed into the game and fought back with Stepan Bernatek equalising in the 53rd minute. With the bronze medal becoming a more real possibility for both sides, the closing quarter was a fiesty one as the Czechs were reduced to nine men for almost a full two minutes as Jakub Kyndl (green) and Ondrej Vudmaska (yellow) were sin-binned in quick succession.

Ireland were unable to take advantage and so extra-time was needed to separate the sides. Cockram, though, finished off a slick corner move to complete a first victory in four outings after beginning the tournament in rude health with emphatic results against the USA and Chile.

It means Ireland stayed true to their pre-tournament ranking as third seeds but the long wait to reach a major event continues. Ireland must now wait until mid-2011 for their next ranking event after a busy year saw European and Champion's Challenge II final appearances as well as Celtic and Glyndwr Cup successes.

Ireland: David Harte, John Jackson, Ronan Gormley (capt), Mikey Watt, Stephen Butler, John Jermyn, Eugene Magee, Timmy Cockram, Geoff McCabe, Conor Harte, Tim Lewis
Subs: Graham Shaw, Peter Caruth, Alan Sothern, David Ames, Paul Gleghorne

Classification results:
5th/6th playoff: USA 2 Chile 1
3rd/4th playoff: Ireland 2 Czech Republic 1 after extra-time
Final: Argentina 4 Belgium 3

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Was it Cockram,s or Watts Goal

Stephen Findlater said...

I've been assured by someone in Argentina it was Cockram's goal and this has been backed up by the official match sheet.

Anonymous said...

Apologies for what may seem like a pretty silly question at this stage, but do both Belgium and Argentina qualify for the World cup now, or just Argentina having won the final??

Anonymous said...

Well done lads, it's easy to support a team when they're winning all the time. Just ask any Utd fan.

The boys dug deep here. Proud of your effort!!

Stephen Findlater said...

Argentina took the one qualifying place on offer in the World Cup.

Anonymous said...

well done lads!

Anonymous said...

What does this result mean for ireland and the World Cup?

Stephen Findlater said...

Ireland did not qualify for the World Cup as only the top team earned qualification. For future competitions, it does not look like our ranking will change that much. We earned more points than France, our nearest rivals in the world standings, but the gap is probably too big to overhaul to move us up the ladder.

Anonymous said...

where are we ranked now then??

Stephen Findlater said...

18th, same as before this competition. An update will take place on December 15 when the various Champions Trophy and Challenge events worldwide are completed.

All this information is on www.fihockey.org and http://www.worldhockey.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,1181-192169-209392-141540-0-file,00.pdf for the current ranking status.

Anonymous said...

great play by the argentines tho