Kildare hockey head coach leads Ireland to euro success

Ireland Over 45 Women’s hockey team head coach, Ross Harding from Rathmore, Co. Kildare delighted in seeing his side scoop gold at this month’s European Masters Championships in Valencia.

Having fallen agonising short of the medals following fourth place finishes at the previous three European tournaments, Ireland not only made the podium this time around, but clinched their place at the top of it when they edged Germany 1-0 in the final.

A 42nd minute goal from the tournament’s top scorer, EJ Walsh, was all that separated the two sides at the end, as Ireland hung on for a famous victory, goalkeeper, Claire Grills pulling off two top-drawer saves in the closing minutes to deny the Germans.

That team gold, together with the silver bagged by the Men’s Over 45s, bronze for the Women’s Over 50s and sixth-place finish for the Men’s Over 50s, made this edition of the European Championships the most successful for Irish masters hockey.
For Harding, a long-time coach in Naas Hockey Club, that gold medal was just the tonic after having seen his national teams fall agonisingly short of major international honours over the past eight years.

First Medal
“After four European Championships and two World Cups, this was the first time ever to win a medal, so it was an amazing achievement” remarked Harding, who is helped in the running of the squad by manager, Nikki Cullen.

“The reality is, when you get to a final of these tournaments, you do essentially always end up playing England, because they're so strong. Over 600 people applied for the English team, while 25 applied for the Ireland team.

“But Germany ended up playing England in the semi-final and beat them 2-0 on penalties, so that essentially took a huge team out of the tournament that we didn't have to play.

“We'd already played England earlier on in our group games and they'd beaten us 2-0, and it could have been a lot more.

“They're a very good side and the fact that the Germans took them out was a huge stepping stone for us in getting gold.

“But that German side would have four or five players who actually have Olympic gold medals with the German senior team from the 2004 Olympics in Greece, so they’re stacked with internationals and that was a great victory for us in the final” he stressed.

Ireland hit the ground running in Valencia, chalking up a 5-0 triumph over Australian Spirit – a collection of players from Down Under who had just missed out on World Cup selection and were invited to contest the European Championships.

Yet Harding and his crew were soon faced with a far more severe test in England, who ran out 2-0 winners, leaving Ireland in need of a victory over Scotland in their closing pool game in order to secure a favourable cross-over for the quarter finals.

A brace from Walsh propelled them to a 2-0 win over the Scots, setting up a last-eight encounter with Wales, whom they put to the sword 4-0, with three of those goals arriving in the first half.

The tournament hosts, Spain provided their next hurdle and it was one that threatened to upend their campaign, after Harding’s side fell a goal behind early on.

But they dug in against their hugely-supported opponents, clawing their way back for a tremendous 3-1 victory, as Walsh again struck twice, while Audrey McCormack also got on the scoresheet.

New Challenge
With Germany having upset the hotly-tipped English in their penultimate round fixture, it presented Harding with a whole new challenge he had not entirely anticipated.

“In order to play against the Germans, we had to completely change the system and our whole tactics” he explained.

“Germany were very defensive and it was just about trying to figure out a way to chip away at them and try and force that one a mistake.

“We won three penalty corners in the space of about 10 minutes in the second half and we scored on the third one through EJ Walsh.

“It was a bit like The Alamo after that. We just had to get everybody back and the Germans really put on a huge amount of pressure and our goalkeeper, Claire Grills made two worldie saves.

Final Seconds
“But when my most experienced player, Linda Maher (co-captain alongside Fiona Walsh) got the ball with 27 seconds left on the clock and started dribbling out towards the corner, I knew then that we weren't going to turn over possession and I could enjoy those final few seconds.

“It was a great victory and definitely the best outcome for a collective Irish Masters team going to a tournament. To come back with three medals was just mind-blowing.

“Our Over 45s women had a very small panel to pick from and then we only had four training sessions before we got on the plane, so I didn't really know what sort of a side we were going to be when we got there.

“We didn't play well for the first one or two matches, but we got better as the tournament went on and that's pretty much all you can hope for.

Together as a Unit
“The team really came together as the unit, irrespective of what I would have done with them. They really turned up physically, mentally and emotionally.

“Everything that I asked them to do, they bought into it, and some of that stuff I asked them to do was a bit crazy, but if everybody buys in, I think we can always be successful” he insisted.

After not only seeing his team finally finish among the medals, but actually conquer Europe, Harding will be hoping his players can bring that form into this summer’s Four Nations tournament in Glasgow, where they will again face off against England, Wales and Scotland, after which they will then turn their attention to next year’s World Cup.

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