The Irish women's hockey team came up just short in their bid to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris. Sean Dancer's side lost 2-1 to Great Britain at the third/fourth-place play-off in Spain.
Great Britain went into the game having qualified for every Olympics except 2004. Ireland's women, on the other hand, had only ever qualified for the Olympics in Tokyo, which were deferred until 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ireland's most recent victory over Great Britain was an unofficial international warm up match ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in Belfast during 2020 when travel was restricted.
In major tournaments where the caps counted as did the ranking points, Great Britain always enjoyed the upper hand. This was the context as Ireland entered the win or bust final on Saturday afternoon in Valencia, Spain.