Six uncapped players in Ireland's EuroHockey squad
- Published
The EuroHockey Championship II take place in Poland from 15-21 August
Ireland head coach Mark Tumilty has named six uncapped players in his squad for the EuroHockey Championship II.
The eight-team competition in Poland will be Ireland's first capped matches since they missed out on the Tokyo Olympicss in November 2019.
Four of the new faces hail from Lisnagarvey with Mark McNellis, Johnny Lynch and Ben Nelson included along with goalkeeper James Milliken.
Ian Stewart and Ireland Under-21 captain Kyle Marshal are also named.
Sean Murray will captain the side while record goal scorer Shane O'Donoghue and experienced trio of Michael Robson, Lee Cole and Johnny McKee are also included.
Ireland open their Pool A campaign against the hosts on Sunday, 15 August before taking on Italy two days later.
Croatia on 18 August rounds out the Pool before the classification matches.
A top two finish will earn a World Cup qualifier ticket and a place in the semi-finals; miss out on those spots and the side will still have a chance to contest for the fifth ticket on offer in the classification matches.
While Ireland have not played competitively since their Olympic play-off defeat to Canada, the EuroHockey Championships follow a productive summer with Ireland winning two separate uncapped series against Scotland and also a trip to Bisham Abbey, putting it up to the Great Britain Olympic team ahead of their departure to Tokyo.
"I feel the squad selected has a good balance of experience and youth," said Tumilty.
The squad, over recent camps against Scotland and GB, is starting to implement our playing style and it has been very pleasing that we have scored a significant number of goals.
"This tournament is the first step on the pathway to getting the Senior Men back competing in the major competitions on a consistent basis. We need to start the tournament well and our focus is on the opening game against Poland."
Ireland squad
Jamie Carr (GK), James Milliken (GK), Lee Cole, Kyle Marshall, Tim Cross, Mark McNellis, Peter McKibbin, Luke Madeley, Sean Murray, Shane O'Donoghue, Michael Robson, Johnny Lynch, Daragh Walsh, Jeremy Duncan, Ben Walker, Ben Nelson, Ian Stewart, Johnny McKee.
Travelling reserves: Kevin O'Dea, Sam Hyland.