Dutch deny Irish girls final place

Una McCarthy’s Ireland U-16 girls were unable to halt the Dutch juggernaut but did show up reasonably well in the physical exchanges against a side that had already battered 43 goals from three games to date in the tournament.

Captain Frederique Derkx netted four times – two corners and two strokes – in her side’s 5-1 win over the girls in green though Chloe Brown did pull one back from play to make it 3-1 early in the second half.

The Irish will now play Belgium in 3rd/4th place playoff, following their 3-0 loss to Spain in the other semi-final.

The U-16 boys, meanwhile, picked up their first win of the tournament with a 3-0 win over the Czech Republic in the searing heat in Barcelona.

They got off to a dream start with a David Cole penalty corner strike after only four minutes but, despite controlling much of the game, were unable to push home the advantage.

Cole doubled the lead, again from a corner, early in the second period before Josh Moffett completed the win before the tie played out a slower tempo.

It moved Ireland onto four points in Group C and they will now face Poland needing a draw to avoid relegation to the B division while a win could see the side garner fifth place, depending on the scoreline between Russia and the Czechs.

Ireland U-16 girls (vs Netherlands): L Camlin, G Adams, C Brown, A Cooke, L Gray, A McGrath, L McKee, E Russell, R Upton, A-M Whelan
Subs: N Walsh, G Frazer, K Lloyd, O Macken, K Morris
July 17, bronze medal match: Ireland vs Belgium, 3pm

Boy’s U-16 European Nations Championships:
Group C: 1. Russia 4pts (+5) 2. Ireland 4pts (+3) 3. Poland 3pts (-1) 4. Czech Republic 0pts (-7)
July 17: Ireland vs Poland, 11am