Yesterday proved to be a bit of a baptism of fire for the Mixed team, with two hard-fought games, two tough losses and, very unfortunately, two bad heat-related injuries.
Game 1: Ireland v Poland
Waking early, we made our way out to the Hippodrome where matches are taking place, a short distance from our rather nice hostel. We cracked into our warm-up and were very pumped up when we stepped onto the line for our first match against Poland. Deciding to forego the Open and Women's divisions and instead combine their strength into a Mixed team, we knew the Polish couldn't be taken lightly. Nevertheless, we were confident that we could give them a very good game and potentially start the tournament with a win. Nerves were clearly evident, however, and combined with the rising heat we spent the first few points making small mistakes which Poland were quick to capitalise on and punish us for. Before we knew it, we were 4-0 down.
We took a moment to get our brains turned on and went back out at it. Tighter handler marking by the Irish began to shut down the reset which was all too easy for Poland in the initial points, and combined with some hard, honest upfield marking we were soon earning a huge number of turnovers. The initial cobwebs that plagued our offence were rapidly shaken off, and conservative, intelligent play saw us ramp up several points in succession. The score stood at 8-5 when half time was called. Poland were clearly rattled; Ireland were determined to turn the game around and seize a win.
Unfortunately, the second half saw a drop in Irish intensity. We had huge difficulties shutting down the Polish deep game while our own offence began to slow down. We fought hard for the remainder of the match, but Poland ran out the winners with the final score at 16-8.
Game 2: Ireland v Great Britain
After the Poland game, we watched the Irish Women beat Finland in an incredible match. Soon after, we were warming up for our 2pm game against GB. The heat began to peak in the high thirties, and during the warm-up it was evident that the Irish were struggling.
GB started the game in flying form, quickly taking their first offence point. Their well-drilled, physical and athletic D line pushed us hard for the next few points, staying glued to our cutters and shutting down our handlers. Their intensity was massively above that of the Polish and we were initially unable to cope. We were slow to convert to defence on the turn, leading to a number of quick hucks for GB scores.
Much like the previous game, things started to improve in the latter end of the first half. We began to cope much better with the physical GB defence, and once we started concentrating we were turning GB over as much as they were us. Unfortunately, they had much greater success in putting away their chances. We were continously trapped on the sideline, while the GB defenders were fantastic in the air and shut down our long game.
The temperature had continued to rise during the game, and it wasn't long before it caused serious problems. On the sideline Nicola collapsed from sunstroke. While she was recovering, Emma also fell victim to the heat and had to be taken to hospital. Both are now recovered, very thankfully.
Despite some very close chances, we were unable to score anything against GB. We were simply outplayed, and the game closed out with GB winning 17-0.
The result was obviously disheartening and extremely disappointing, but I have no doubt that it will be the sort of thing that will spur Ireland Mixed to put in much stronger performances over the next few days. Our next match is today at 5 pm against Italy. Fingers crossed.
Elsewhere, the Women beat Finland and lost to a very strong Australia side. The Open team lost to Columbia but had a fantastic win over Italy.
-Perry
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