Ireland captain Sean Murray rued their missed chances as India clung on for victory in their Pool B clash at the Olympics in Paris, which leaves Ireland needing results from their last two games to reach the Quarter-Finals.
A double from Harmanpreet Singh and a masterclass from goalkeeper PR Sreejesh were enough to earn India the victory as Ireland failed to capitalise on nine penalty corners to slip to a third straight loss at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium.
It means Mark Tumilty’s side need to pick up points against both Argentina and New Zealand in their final two pool games if they are to keep their medal hopes alive, and captain Murray knows they need to be more clinical in order to do so.
“I think frustrated, of course, not to get the result there. I think the second half we found our second wind and we were really pushing hard, created lots of nice chances but unfortunately didn’t take them,” said the Lisburn man.
“You know it’s those finer details at this top level that make the difference and credit to India, they played well, defended with their lives, and managed to get the win in the end.
“Still really positive, before the tournament we probably wanted to target the last three games to get those wins to get to the Quarter-Final, now we’ve got two more to go so we need to get there.
“I think we’ll keep our heads high and have the confidence to tune the finer details and try and get those two wins.”
Ireland had been the more positive side early on, shrugging off the sweltering Paris heat and looking to hit the world’s fifth-ranked nation on the counter-attack, but they would fall behind when Singh struck from a penalty stroke in the first quarter.
The Indian sharpshooter would double their advantage before half-time and there was nothing goalkeeper Davey Harte could do, Singh’s shot ramping off the stick of Ben Walker and high into the net for their second.
Lee Cole and Shane O’Donoghue both came close from penalty corners in the third quarter as Ireland pressed, forcing plenty of pressure in the Indian half, and Walker then forced a good save from Sreejesh after good work by Matthew Nelson.
But their efforts were in vain as India held on, meaning attention now turns to Thursday’s clash with World No.7-ranked nation Argentina and then a meeting with New Zealand on Friday knowing their knockout hopes are on thin ice.