Ireland end India series with another heavy loss

India 4-0 Ireland

Ireland were beaten 4-0 by India in their eighth and final match of the FIH Pro League series against the hosts at the Bursa Munda International Hockey stadium in Rourkela.

The visitors went into this game on the back of a 7-0 defeat against Spain the night before.

Ireland dominated the exchanges in the first quarter and Jeremy Duncan created a chance which was deflected into the air, Peter McKibbin forced the ball over the line, but the umpire had already awarded them a penalty corner.

Two more followed but Ireland could not profit and they were two goals down within 90 seconds.

Matthew Nelson was penalised in the 14th minute and from the resultant penalty corner India took the lead through Nilikanta Sharma.

A minute later they were further ahead when a field goal by Akashdeep made it 2-0.

Manpreet set up Gurjant for a goal to put India 3-0 up in the 38th minute and they were close to getting a fourth in the 45th minute but Carr saved at point blank range.

There was no further scoring until the final seconds when Jugraj Singh scored from a retaken penalty corner in the final minute for a final score of 4-0 to India.

It proved a testing trip for Ireland with eight defeats in as many matches.

Ireland head coach Mark Tumilty said: "It was a good response from the players today. We created numerous opportunities which we couldn't capitalise on while India proved to be clinical in our circle.

While the result is not what we want it was a pleasing performance to end this block. Overall, it has been an excellent experience in our build up to Paris and the players deserve credit for how they have applied themselves against the world's best teams."