After the drama of India and Spain it was a sobering end to the Ireland women's hockey team in their World Cup final loss to Holland. The Green Machine never got going in London as they succumbed 6-0 to a dominant Dutch side.
After a bright start Ireland fell behind to Lidewij Welten, with Ireland keeping their opponents at 1-0 until the end of the first quarter. But in the second the floodgates opened, with Kelly Jonker, Kitty van Male & Malou Pheninckx dashing Ireland's hopes of winning the tournament outright. Two more goals came in the third quarter as Ireland ran out of steam on a warm afternoon in the Lee Valley Stadium.
But given the circumstances Ireland can hold their head up high, having claimed the silver medal for their country against all odds.
After the game Chloe Watkins admitted that her side never really got going in the game but that the group we're proud of their achievement in getting to the final:
We're extremely proud of how far we've come and how we've represented our country and we're going to go and accept our silver medals with a smile on our face:
‘The Netherlands are the best in the world and deserved the win...we are extremely proud of what we have done’ - Chloe Watkins reflects on #HWC2018 journey #GreenArmy pic.twitter.com/oBjDLiJcH9
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 5, 2018
The star of Ireland's campaign, Ayeisha McFerran was also announced as the goalkeeper of the tournament, and Graham Shaw's side will have a lot more positives than negatives to take from a memorable World Cup campaign.
Saluting the second best team in the world! - The @IreWomenHockey collect their silver medals at the #HWC2018 #GreenArmy #RTESport pic.twitter.com/eKw6NKKLi1
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 5, 2018
