Ireland to give new talent chance to shine in matches against Olympics-bound Great Britain
- Published
Ireland coach Mark Tumilty is using summer internationals to blood new talent
Ireland will give new talent another chance to shine when they test themselves against Olympics-bound Great Britain at Bisham Abbey next week.
Coach Mark Tumilty handed 14 players a first taste of senior international hockey when they won two of their three matches against Scotland last weekend.
Those were their first games since November 2019.
Banbridge's Luke Roleston will be the fourth goalkeeper to be given an opportunity this summer.
He joins Jamie Carr on the roster.
Outfield, Cork C of I youngster Kevin O'Dea will line out in midfield alongside Nick Page who has joined the Irish set-up. Page is a former England Under-21 international who qualifies for Ireland with an Irish grandparent.
Matthew Nelson is also available and he joins his younger brother Ben in the line-up.
Of the uncapped players deployed against Scotland, Ben Nelson, Mark McNellis, Kyle Marshall, Fergus Gibson, Johnny Lynch, Ian Stewart, Sam Hyland, Ben Nelson and Conor Empey are back for a second series.
'Excellent opportunity' for younger players
"With some senior players unavailable due to work commitments, this is an excellent opportunity to give some of our younger players exposure to games against a top ranked nation," Tumilty said of the selection.
"The players will have benefited greatly from the Scotland games and we look forward to the challenge these GB games will offer.
The games will be GB's first since their Olympic panel was announced and offers a high-quality test for Ireland as they continue their preparations for August's EuroHockey Championships II in Poland.
Ireland squad: Jamie Carr (KHC Leuven), Luke Roleston (Banbridge), Mark McNellis (Lisnagarvey), Tim Cross (Annadale), Peter McKibbin (Lisnagarvey), Sam O'Connor (Glenanne), Kyle Marshall (Beeston), Fergus Gibson (Loughborough Students), Daragh Walsh (Three Rock Rovers), Sean Murray (KHC Leuven), Jonny Lynch (Lisnagarvey), Kevin O'Dea (Cork C of I), Michael Robson (Annadale), Nick Page (Old Georgians), Sam Hyland (YMCA), Neal Glassey (Crefelder HTC), Ian Stewart (Corinthian), Ben Walker (Three Rock Rovers), Johnny McKee (Crefelder HTC), Matthew Nelson (Crefelder HTC), Ben Nelson (Lisnagarvey), Conor Empey (UCD)
Fixtures
28 June: Ireland v Great Britain development panel
29 June: Ireland v Great Britain
1 July: Ireland v Great Britain