The Irish leg of the FIH Hockey Professional League got here to an in depth with tightly contested battles. England and Belgium renewed their rivalry within the males’s competitors, whereas England’s girls edged hosts Eire in a hard-fought encounter performed in entrance of a passionate residence crowd.
In Argentina, Los Leones delivered a dominant show in opposition to Pakistan to underline their rising confidence this season, whereas the ladies’s assembly between Argentina and the Netherlands was finally determined by the climate, with security considerations forcing the cancellation of the ultimate match of the sequence.
(Males’s) England 2 – 3 Belgium
A 3–2 win for Belgium over England avenged their earlier penalty shootout loss to the identical opponents, in a match the place Victor Wegnez celebrated his 2 hundredth cap.
Belgium loved vital possession and territorial benefit within the opening quarter with Thomas Crols pulling a half likelihood shot broad and Thibeau Stockbroekx seeing his deflection gloved away brilliantly by Oliver Payne. Nevertheless, England took the lead from a uncommon assault within the tenth minute when Nicholas Parks reacted quickest to a blocked shot and slammed the unfastened ball residence. They’d one other good likelihood on the hooter however pushed the shot broad. The Belgians saved making use of strain by the second quarter and it lastly paid off with drag flicks from Alexander Hendrickx and Tom Boon edging them 2-1 forward by half time.
Will Calnan levelled the rating for England with a Thirty fourth-minute tap-in, the ball floating to him in open house close to the left put up after Loic van Doren had saved the primary shot. Six minutes later, Boon obtained an extended go by the centre of the pitch and Payne did very nicely to return off his line and cease the primary shot. However the ball dropped straight again to Boon, who looped it neatly over Payne’s head to revive Belgium’s lead. They then managed the ultimate quarter with a lot of the play occurring within the center third of the pitch, and the English needed to pull off their goalkeeper to chase a consequence. They gave themselves an opportunity from a penalty nook with simply seven seconds left on the clock, however the shot went broad to wrap up the Irish leg of the boys’s competitors.
The participant of the match was awarded to Belgium’s Tom Boon, who stated: “We actually got here out right here to win. England gave us a reasonably onerous time. The battle was from a excessive stage, particularly bodily, however on the finish we managed to win. I feel it was necessary for us to finish this 12 months on a extremely good be aware.”
(Ladies’s) Eire 1 – 2 England
England introduced down the curtain on the Irish leg of the FIH Hockey Professional League with a 2-1 win over an Irish group that fought for completely every thing on a day when Kathryn Mullan celebrated her 250th cap for Eire in entrance of a vocal residence crowd
Holly Micklem had loads of work to do within the Irish purpose as England got here out firing within the first quarter. Tessa Howard gave the English the lead within the 4th minute, stretching forward of the defenders and nailing her first-time slap into the roof of the online. Eire managed possession and territory for an extended interval by the center of the half, however they didn’t actually threaten the circle. England, in contrast, appeared harmful on the ball and so they might simply have led by greater than 1-0 at half time.
The English regained the ascendancy within the third quarter by controlling the tempo of the sport with affected person passing and lengthy intervals of possession. Eire managed to maintain them out till the fiftieth minute when Holy Hunt finally discovered the online with a reverse stick shot that deflected in off the put up. The purpose appeared to spur the Irish into motion and so they pulled one again within the 53rd, Caoimhe Perdue discovering the goal with a drag flick for her first worldwide purpose. Eire sacrificed their goalkeeper to have a full crack with 5 minutes remaining, and virtually instantly had England scrambling to interrupt down an important circle entry. It was frantic end-to-end hockey on the loss of life, however whereas Eire completed the match attacking the circle, they couldn’t create one other alternative for an equaliser.
England’s Katie Curtis was named because the participant of the match and stated: “We’re buzzing to get three factors, I feel the temper in camp actually wanted this. It was a battle on the finish. I feel we performed nicely within the first half, possibly the primary three, after which the final quarter it turned a little bit of a battle.”
(Males’s) Argentina 5 – 1 Pakistan
Argentina delivered a commanding 5–1 win over Pakistan, combining penalty-corner effectivity with sharp aerial play to take management early and by no means look again.
Nicolas della Torre opened the scoring with a strong penalty nook drag flick that deflected in off Pakistan defender Muhammad Abdullah. Los Leones appeared in superb kind from the outset, controlling the sport by midfield and repeatedly stretching Pakistan’s line of defense with lengthy aerials. One such aerial was introduced down by Joaquín Toscani, who beat his defender earlier than sending a bouncing ball by the circle for Bautista Capurro to deflect previous goalkeeper Muneeb Ur-Rehman, giving Argentina a 2–0 lead after the opening quarter.
Maico Casella performed a key position in Argentina’s third purpose. After delivering the preliminary ball into the circle to create strain, Pakistan turned possession over whereas attempting to clear. Casella was the subsequent recipient, discovered house and delivered an excellent go throughout purpose, permitting Capurro to faucet in his second of the match.
Pakistan began the third quarter with renewed intent, sparked by a superb particular person effort from Waheed Ashraf Rana. Rana drove by the Argentine circle and, discovered room in his again house earlier than smashing a shot excessive in to the mesh to cut back the deficit. Argentina responded with their fourth when Tadeo Marcucci despatched a precision go to spring Tomas Domene. Domene’s backhand effort pressured a rebound, which Tobias Martins reacted to shortly and completed neatly. Domene then capped a powerful efficiency by incomes and changing a penalty nook with a low drag flick to make it 5–1. A scoreless remaining quarter adopted as Argentina comfortably noticed out the match and celebrated a convincing three factors.
After the match, Argentina’s Tomas Domene was named Participant of the Match for the second evening in a row. He stated: “It was a extremely necessary win as a result of if we all know if we will play simple and join as a group we’ll get some probabilities. At the moment we confirmed that and so we’re pleased with the consequence tonight and this week. We’re pleased with the place the group is at as we construct in the direction of the World Cup.”
(Ladies’s) Argentina vs Netherlands
The ultimate match of the sequence between Argentina and the Netherlands was cancelled attributable to extreme climate situations. Though each groups accomplished their warm-up, they have been despatched off the pitch following thunder and lightning warnings. After ready for greater than an hour, the choice was taken in session with the FIH and the Technical Director to cancel the match within the curiosity of participant and official security.
Present Hero High Scorers:
Ladies – Stephanie Vanden Borre (BEL), Charlotte Englebert (BEL) Yibbi Jansen (NED) (3 objectives)
Males –Alexander Hendrickx (BEL), Tom Boon (BEL), Tomas Domene (ARG) (4 objectives)
To see the present standings within the FIH Hockey Professional League, click on right here.
FIH Hockey Professional League – 14 December 2025
Sport Eire Campus (IRE)
Males
Outcome: Match 11 (M)
England 2 – 3 Belgium
Participant of the match: Tom Boon (BEL)
Umpires: Hyosik You (KOR), Lukasz Zwierzchowski (POL), Jonas van’T Hek (NED-video)
Ladies
Outcome: Match 11 (W)
Eire 1 – 2 England
Participant of the match: Katie Curtis (ENG)
Umpires: Sandra Adell (ESP), Gemma Calderon (ESP), Hyosik You (KOR-video)
Santiago del Estero Hockey Membership, Argentina (ARG)
Males
Outcome: Match 12 (M)
Argentina 5 – 1 Pakistan
Participant of the match: Tomas Domene (ARG)
Umpires: Michael Dutrieux (BEL), Jonathan von Hoesslin (RSA), Sean Rapaport (RSA-video)
Ladies
Outcome: Match 12 (W)
Argentina vs Netherlands
Match Cancelled attributable to inclement climate
