Olympic hockey in Paris: Belgian champions open with Irish victory

Paris — Belgium and Ireland both showed solid defense in their Olympic men’s opener. But it was the Olympic men’s champions who benefited from a lucky deflection and a sharp PC from Alexander Hendrickx.

The Belgian hitman raised his fingers to the heavens in memory of his influential grandmother who passed away last week, his goal sealing a 2-0 victory over the Irish, who face Australia again on Monday.

Ireland went into their Olympic bid with two straight victories over the Red Lions. The statistics ahead of their recent Pro League games were grim: in 12 games since 2009, Belgium had won 11.

Moreover, the Red Lions started to find their feet in the Pro League matches, and they almost carried over to these Olympic Games thanks to Tom Boon – “With a bit of luck, I must say,” he admitted later – and Hendrickx goals combined with a tight defense, with Vincent Vanasch making only one notable save.

Harte, who was forced into five key saves, said: “When you know you’re going to be going for 60 minutes against one of the best teams and the reigning Olympic champions, you have to take something positive with you.

“When you know it’s the opening match of the Olympics, everything happens pretty fast and you can’t process it all in your head. But that’s what video is for. That’s what we’re going to do.”

The first real threat of the game came from the Irish after a quick turnover, which led to a Kyle Walker attempt to win a first down, but this earned the Belgians a free kick.

Belgium used the air to create one of their first chances for Gauthier Boccard, whose limp cross just missed Harte’s right post. Boccard was now proving a threat on the right, his next cross into the circle going over Harte’s bar. The Cork stopper then saved from another circle deflection.

The Red Lions now plundered the Irish defences. But with penalty-corner-threatening Hendrickx off the pitch, the Green Machine held firm in successive set-pieces.

Ireland came under sustained pressure in the second quarter, with Harte twice forced into action. However, he was powerless to stop Belgium’s opening goal, with Boon deflecting the ball and sending a shot past Harte in the circle.

But Ireland refused to be lured onto the back foot and the first corner chance came in the next phase, when Shane O’Donoghue’s flick was cleared by Vanasch.

Hendrickx was on the pitch for Belgium’s second goal, hitting low and left to evade both Harte and the postman. And so it remained as the Olympic champions got their campaign underway against an energetic, forward-thinking side.

Coach Mark Tumilty said: “We can be proud of the performance. We probably lacked a bit of belief, which for the first time at this stage is understandable.

“We probably didn’t create enough chances, but it’s a good learning curve.”

This match showed that Ireland likes to attack and is not allowed to defend.

“We feel we are better with the ball. Belgium played very well today with some key players on the ball,” he added.

The only concern for Ireland was Nick Page, who was hit in the circle. He will have an x-ray but there were concerns he may have a broken hand.