Paul Revington, Coach of the Senior Men's Irish Hockey Team has today revealed his 18 selected for the EuroHockey Nations Trophy taking place from the 1st - 8th August in Wrexham, Wales.
Revington has had ample opportunity to assess potential squad members since he took over the reigns last January through club and Interprovincial performances as well as regional and international training camps. In the last seven weeks alone athletes have had their chances to impress before the squad was selected for what is the most important event for this team in the Summer Programme, with a total of 12 internationals taking place since the start of June (Wales series (2); Celtic Cup (3); Champions Challenge (5); Belgium Series (2)).
Revington's selection sees two changes from the squad that played in the recent Champions Challenge II final against Poland, explaining the changes earlier he said ÔÇ£Michael Watt has unfortunately been ruled out through the hand injury sustained in the Champions Challenge II final against Poland and Peter Caruth has been bought in to replace him. Andy McConnell has withdrawn himself from selection contention due to university exams and this has made way for Alan Giles. Alan has been selected on the back of his strong performances at the Celtic Cup and will bring a strong drive to the team as a result of the multiple successes he has enjoyed over the past club season and more recently at the Celtic Cup.ÔÇØ
ÔÇ£The Team are excited for this event and will look to put all their hard work from this summer into producing positive results in Wales.ÔÇØ he continued.
Ireland head into this tournament with the best world ranking at 18th and will face Italy (26th); Russia (25th) and Belarus (36th) in Pool A while Pool B pits hosts Wales (30th); Scotland (23rd); Czech Republic (24th) and Switzerland (28th).
Ireland who were relegated from the Championship to the Trophy in 2007 will be aiming for promotion which they can gain by either finishing in first or second place. If recent performances and form are anything to go by this is a goal that is within the reach of this team whose average age is just 24, promotion very importantly will also give the side a chance at 2012 Olympic qualification through the 2011 EuroHockey Championships.
Team Ireland: David Harte, Iain Walker, Ronan Gormley, Tim Lewis, Joe Brennan, Connor Harte, John Jackson, Graham Shaw, Stephen Butler, David Hobbs, Geoff McCabe, John Jermyn, Alan Sothern, Eugene Magee, Timmy Cockram, Mitch Darling, Alan Giles, Peter Caruth.
Source: Irish Hockey Association
