Sean Murray brings up century as Ireland beat Austria

Ireland made it three wins in succession at the Sport Ireland Campus as second-quarter goals from John McKee and Jeremy Duncan saw off world number 19 side Austria 2-0.

It followed two wins over Chile (ranked 23rd) in midweek as part of this busy schedule in the lead-up to the EuroHockey Championship qualifiers later this month in Calais. All told, world no 15s Ireland have won eight of 10 fixtures this summer to build confidence and momentum.

The tie was also the 100th cap for captain Sean Murray and he was delighted to receive the honour on home turf seven years after making his debut, also in Dublin.

"It’s a bit surreal. We play across the waters so much so doing it at home is so special, especially for the 100th," the former Lisnagarvey man - now plying his trade in Belgium - said afterwards.

"Every cap is as special but it was nice to play freely today and get a win with the team. Our performances keep progressing and winning is certainly a habit so we want to keep that going as long as possible. It would be really good to go to France with that momentum."

"When we play the teams below us, there’s potential to lose far more than you gain so it gives the extra incentive to win. With the nature and experience of our squad, we need to get used to seeing out games [like this] well and putting the foot on the throat of the teams ranked below us.

"Today, we learned a bit about playing it smart when we were two goals up, not playing direct. It is a work in progress."

Murray also paid tribute to Jaime Carr who recorded on a clean sheet in his 50th international: "Brilliant for him. It’s difficult for a goalkeeper to amass 50 caps - it’s not like a defender who can be the fourth best and still play every game.

"He is a