Paris 2024: Ireland narrowly beaten by strong Aussie side in Paris

Ireland 1-2 Australia

Ireland were narrowly defeated 2-1 by the highly rated Australians in their second Pool B match at the Olympics.

Mark Tumilty's side came into the game off the back of a 2-0 defeat to Belgium in their Paris Games opener, and things did not get any easier as they felt the full force of the Australian attack from the opening exchanges.

And the Aussies put that possession to good use as they opened the scoring in the ninth minute thanks to a fine finish from Corey Weyer.

It all came from a penalty corner, and Weyer was on hand to take the ball rebounding from the post from the initial shot before dispatching it high over David Harte’s right shoulder and into the roof of the net.

But Ireland responded in the second quarter as they started to build some momentum inside the Australia half and they were rewarded in the 25 minute as Lee Cole grabbed an equaliser (below).

Again, it came from a short corner, and with Australia appearing to anticipate a near-post shot, the ball continued to Cole, who slammed it inside the far post with a perfectly-executed effort.

Australia looked to hit back before the break, and while Ireland survived two penalty corners, they ultimately conceded a penalty stroke with just seconds remaining in the half.

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And Blake Govers made no mistake with the penalty, as he slammed it low and hard into the right corner, which beat Harte for pace to hand Australia the lead at the break.

Australia came out to finish the game off in the third