Ireland’s first Women’s World Cup field hockey final ended in defeat as the Netherlands retained the title with an emphatic 6-0 victory on Sunday.
Ireland, the second-lowest ranked country in the tournament, was unable to produce a fairy-tale ending at Lee Valley Hockey Centre in London.
Goals from Lidewij Welten, Kelly Jonker, Kitty van Male, Malou Pheninckx, Marloes Keetels and Caia van Maasakker capped a dominant performance from the Dutch as they won the competition for a record eighth time.
Photo: AFP
The Netherlands team has not lost since the Olympic final two years ago.
This was Ireland’s first World Cup since 2002 and its previous best result was 11th in 1994.
Ranked 16th, Ireland topped a group including Olympic champion England, and was first into the quarter-finals.
Graham Shaw’s Ireland began brightly, but did not manage a shot at goal until the final quarter and the Netherlands, which lifted the trophy on home soil four years ago, soon showed its superiority.
Welten put Ireland ahead in the seventh minute, turning to hit a powerful shot through a crowded circle and past Irish goalkeeper Ayeisha McFerran at the near post.
Jonker found the bottom-left corner to double the lead in the 19th, while superb blocks from Irish pair Shirley McCay and Roisin Upton following penalty corners prevented additional goals.
The free-scoring Dutch, who registered 29 goals in five matches to reach the final, put the result beyond doubt with two quick goals in the final stages of the second period.
Tournament top scorer Van Male smashed in her eighth of the competition from close range and, moments later, Pheninckx was allowed too much space and fired the ball high into the net.
Shaw called for his players to “be proud” at halftime, but they were outclassed by the world’s top-ranked team, and powerless to stop Keetels from tapping home a fifth and Van Maasakker from adding another from a penalty corner.
The consolation for the Irish is that their ranking will improve considerably which could be crucial when it comes to the Olympic qualifiers for Tokyo 2020.
The youth of their squad also bodes well with just two of the 18-strong squad older than 27.
Earlier on Sunday, Spain beat Australia 3-1 in the bronze-medal match.
Spain went 2-0 ahead in 14 minutes with goals from Maria Lopez and Berta Bonastre.
Kathryn Slattery pulled one back for Australia in the 40th before Alicia Magaz extended Spain’s lead in the 51st.
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