Ireland produced their best performance of EuroHockey 2025, but a 0-0 draw against Germany was not nearly enough to claim a semi-final place.
Gareth Grundie’s squad were markedly better than in defeat by France on Monday, but that is where the damage was done and needing to beat Germany by two goals to make the knockout stages was always going to be a tough task.
They had an early opportunity to take the lead but Hannah McLoughlin saw her penalty stroke saved and although they created other chances in an evenly fought contest, they never looked like gaining the two-goal deficit they required.
“Certainly pleased with tonight’s performance,” said Irish coach Grundie.
“I think we went toe-to-toe with Germany in front of their home crowd but for us really the damage was done on Monday.
“We didn’t take our opportunity against France.
“If we’d gone into today’s game with equal points and maybe even a superior goal difference, then I think we certainly would have put them under a bit of pressure.”
