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Unfancied Belarus scripted the first major upset of the third women’s Hockey World League Round 2 tournament when they humbled world number 14 Ireland in Valencia.
The 21st ranked Belarus, who clawed their way back in their opening match against 17th ranked Italy after conceding a 0-2 lead before leveling the issue and losing 1-3 in the penalty shootout, struck twice in the second half to outwit Ireland 2-0.
Ireland, who started their campaign on a rollicking note, getting the better of Czech Republic 4-1, found the going tough against the Belarus eves. On a sunny day, the match was confined to the midfield with both teams creating few scoring chances.
Both teams wasted their penalty corners as well and overall lacked purpose to go for the jugular.
The second half was a stark contrast. The tedious opening half was followed by an action-packed second stanza.
Belarus muffed up an opportunity to pull ahead in the 10th minute but soon atoned for that when Ryta Bakura deflected in a penalty corner stroke to help her side draw first blood.
Ireland pressed hard for the equalizer, but Belarus shot stopper Maryna Navitskaya stood like a rock and effected some decent saves to foil the Irish goal-scoring designs.
Belarus earned a raft of penalty corners late in the contest and finally sealed the win when Natstissia Syraezhka sounded the board. The Belarus girls held on to the lead to hand Ireland a big shocker.
The defeat is a setback for Ireland, who are now in a must-win position in their next two matches against formidable opponents Italy and Spain. On the other hand, Belarus, by virtue of this victory, find themselves in the hunt for the Hockey World League semifinals with four points from their first two games.
In another match, hosts Spain gave the local crowd a lot to rejoice about as they walloped Czech Republic 6-0 to consign them to their second consecutive loss.
37th ranked Czeck Republic, who lost 1-4 to Ireland in their opening match, were up against the 15th ranked Spanish side who were keen to quench their goal scoring thirst.
Spain struck four times in the first 15 minutes of the game and literally put the contest beyond Czech Republic very early in the match.
The Spanish girls were denied any attempts to enhance their lead as they went into half-time with a cosy 4-0 lead.
Spanish eves held sway of the proceedings in the second stanza, but Czech Republic held out stoutly. The Czechs needed to sound the board to stage a fightback but were unable to do so as a strong midfield play from the Spanish girls did not allow them any open spaces.
Spain scored two goals in the final five minutes of play to complete a facile 6-0 romp, which gives Spain three points while Czech Republic remain winless from their two games.
