Irish men and women’s teams post solid performances

Women hammer Italy at Stormont while men overcome Scotland in tight Sunday fixture

Stephen Findlater

The Irish women and men’s team both ran up good results over the weekend to bolster their mood ahead of selection for the European Championships.

The women hammered Italy 7-0 at Stormont with Zoe Wilson smashing in a couple of goals in the first 11 minutes to set the ball rolling.

Further goals from Ellen Curran, Katie Mullan, Ali Meeke, Deirdre Duke and Lizzie Colvin spun out the impressive result against a side Ireland have only beaten twice in their last eight meetings.

The men, meanwhile, drew on Saturday 1-1 with Scotland with Ben Walker and Kenny Bain trading goals.

On Sunday Alan Forsyth put Scotland 1-0 up but the returning Jeremy Duncan – one of several changes from the FIH Series Finals – equalised before Walker scored the winner in a 2-1 success.

Ireland will play in a four-nations tournament in Spain next weekend before facing Scotland again in the European Championships group stages.

The Irish Times