Irish men's national team coach David Passmore has revealed the twenty one man squad that he intends to bring to Scotland for the three match clash at the end of November.
Every match between now and the WorldHockey Olympic Qualifying Tournament, next February, will provide players with the chance to impress the Irish Coach to secure their position on the touring team to New Zealand. ÔÇ£These matches will provide an opportunity to gauge where our players are and make selections for our trip to Chile. The athletes have been working especially hard for the past four weeks both on the pitch, in the gym and running three times per week so I am keen to see if we can play some of the high tempo hockey that will be required if we are to push hard in New ZealandÔÇØ commented Passmore.
Scotland are currently ranked four places behind Ireland's world ranking of 19th ÔÇ£We need to be able to put teams of a similar standard away, as this will be crucial in New Zealand and these games provide the ideal situation to do thisÔÇØ continued Passmore.
Passmore will no doubt be buoyed by the form of his current oversees Irish players who competed last weekend in the EuroHockey League. Lewers, Jermyn and Magee all played for Dutch Team HGC and all three goals for HGC against German champions Alster came from an Irish Stick. Michael Watt also played for Scottish Club, Grange securing a goal of his own.
Three Rock Rover's Andy McConnell has also been called into the Irish squad 'Andy McConnell has impressed since his return from playing club hockey in Holland and is included for the first time. He is reasonably versatile but I intend to play him in midfield'
Despite travelling with a large squad Passmore has decided to rest a few players on this occasion. ÔÇ£Some players have been rested on an individual basis and I am keen with the keepers to see how Gareth and Iain Walker have progress since the summer. Gareth Lennox is just back training after a sustained period of recovery to help a knee injuryÔÇØ
This series of matches will most likely see a major milestone for Cork C of I's David Hobbs who has an impressive ninety nine caps under his belt at the age of twenty five.
The Irish women's squad will also be travelling to Scotland to compete in their own three match clash during the same period.
Match Schedule:
Friday 23 November at 20:00
Saturday 24 November at 17:00
Sunday 25 November at 13.00
Team Ireland:
Jason Black, Mark Black, Paddy Brown, Karl Burns, Stephen Butler, Timothy Cockram, Mark Gleghorne, Ronan Gormley, David Hobbs, Mark Irwin, John Jermyn, Gareth Lennox (GK), Tim Lewis, Eugene Magee, Phelie Maguire, Geoff McCabe, Andy McConnell, Graham Shaw, Iain Walker (GK), Michael Watt, Conor Harte.
Rest: Andy Barbour, David Harte, Iain Lewers, Mark Ruddle,
Source: Irish Hockey Association
