Ireland lost a shootout against Australia but secured a point in Hobart and moved up to sixth in the FIH Hockey Pro League.
Australia are ranked sixth in the International Hockey Federation [FIH] women’s outdoor rankings with Ireland in 13th position.
The away side had the best chances early in the game with Niamh Carey’s shot just wide before Michelle Carey and Mikayla Power also came close to opening the scoring.
In the second quarter, Jessica McMaster won Ireland the first penalty corner of the game, but Hannah McLoughlin’s delivery was off target.
After the restart, Ireland continued to dominate with Sarah Hawkshaw’s free steered just wide by McMaster.
Sarah Torrans then made a crucial defensive interception to stop a penalty corner from Australia.
Replacement Hockeyroos keeper Zoe Newman was then called into action to deny Hawkshaw’s on-target effort.
Ireland made a poor start to the shootout and fell 3-0 behind before Hannah McLoughlin and McMaster scored and Holly Micklem denied Australia’s fourth shot to make it 3-2.
However, Australia made no mistake with their fifth penalty to seal the bonus point.
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- Northern Ireland Sport
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