Ireland run 'incredible story for sport' as Spain final ends in silver medal

Coleraine’s Katie Mullan sent out a defiant “we’ll be back again” message and hope for inspiration to the next generation as Ireland finished the women’s FIH Nations Cup campaign with silver after a 2-0 final loss to Spain.

A spot in the hockey FIH Pro League was the ultimate ambition for Ireland but Mullan, the international captain, remained full of pride at progress across the competition despite the final pain yesterday in defeat.

"I'm incredibly proud of the Green Army...of the fight we put in, not just this week but over the past couple of months,” said Mullan. “It's been an incredibly tough couple of months, both on and off the pitch.

"And what the girls have done, the resilience they've shown, is just an incredible story for sport really.

"I hope that we've inspired young people so that if they maybe don't achieve their dream, that they get back up and go again.

"We'll be back again.”

It was a message supported by Ireland women’s head coach Facundo Quiroga.

“At the end of the day, we talk about coming here to write our own story,” said Quiroga. “It was a really tough way back after the qualifiers (Olympic qualifiers in January) and we needed to build a team, we needed to feel competitive again and the girls worked really, really hard over the last three months.

"Especially in this tournament, they showed how resilient they are...we didn't start the tournament well and we came back immediately.

“The legacy of this team goes far beyond the silver medal we won.”