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Irish Women's Hockey Team qualify for Tokyo 2020

The Irish Women's Hockey side has qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the most dramatic fash...



Irish Women's Hockey Team qual...
Other Sports

Irish Women's Hockey Team qualify for Tokyo 2020

The Irish Women's Hockey side has qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the most dramatic fashion.

A two-legged tie finished up scoreless between the Girls in Green and Canada at Energia Park in Donnybrook.

The sides couldn't be separated again after penalties on Sunday night and it went to sudden death where keeper Ayeisha McFerra was the hero.

Roisin Upton slotted one home for Ireland to leave it on a knife-edge.

Having already made two saves in the original shoot-out McFerra then stepped up again and saved Amanda Woodcroft's effort to secure their place on the plane to Tokyo next summer.

A record-breaking crowd of 6,137 was at Energia Park as Sean Dancer's side became the first Irish female hockey side in history to qualify for an Olympic games.

The Green Army agonisingly missed out on a place at Rio 2016 after falling at the final hurdle of qualification.

A penalty shootout defeat to China in Valencia at the World Hockey League saw them miss out and judging by the emotions on show on Sunday night stirred a response that has led to this unprecedented success.

Last week, a late penalty decision by a video official saw the Irish men's side miss out in sudden death where Canada prevailed and the Green Machine's Olympic hopes crashed to a disappointing end.

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Irish Hockey Tokyo 2020