Pakistan senior hockey team won the UCD Four-Nation Hockey Tournament in Dublin after beating host Ireland in the final on late night Saturday. According to different sources and wire services, Pakistan and Ireland hockey teams squared off in the final of the event having met just 24 hours earlier in the pool stages of the event. It was Pakistan that triumphed 2-1, a similar score line to that of Friday, but not before being put under sustained pressure by minnows Ireland. Pakistan dominated the early stages of the game putting the Irish defense to test but failed to score due to some great work by David Harte in goal.
Ireland went under even more pressure in the 13th minute when Stuart Loughrey was forced to serve ten minutes for a diving tackle but sustained well before mounting their counter attacks. The 16th and 21st minutes saw the hosts came close to opening the account but they were met with a solid hand by Salman Akbar. The sides went into halftime 0-0. However, Pakistan did not hang around in the second half and score just five minutes later through a classic Sohail Abbas drag flick. Ireland had periods of rhythm but found it difficult to get clear chances away in the scoring zones and were lucky not to slip behind even further when Muhammad Waqas intercepted an Irish pass. The counter eventually led to nothing.
Ireland secured a penalty corner in the 54th and John Jermyn made it count to level the sides at 1-1.
In the 57th minute, Pakistan earn a penalty corner and Sohail Abbas converted it into a goal and scores line was changed over to 2-1 till the final whistle. In the end, Pakistan proved too good for Ireland to win the UCD Four-Nation event.
Now the Greenshirts are all set for their next destination, Netherlands, where they will be featuring in another Four-Nation Rabo Hockey Cup, which is to take place in Amsterdam from June 28. This will be their second stop in their Europe tour that is planned for the team’s preparation for the 2012 London Olympic Games ahead. In Rabo Four-Nations hockey tournament, Pakistan will face Holland, Olympic Champions Germany, and the European Champions England. The tournament will be held for four days in which Pakistan will play the opening match against the host team on Tuesday, June 28. On the other hand, England will play against Germany on the same day. With a successful and improved performance at the previous 2011 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, held in Malaysia and the Dublin Four-Nation which is currently underway, Pakistan is all confident to give a good fight to their opponent teams. However, it will be challenging for the team to perform well in a colder place over the wet turf. In order to outshine in the Rabo Four-Nations, Pakistan will have to work hard in terms of good penalty-corner executions and stamina building. This is because the European teams have overpowered the rest on the basis of their strong fitness level and strong penalty-corner conversions.
