IRELAND HAVE MISSED out on reaching the second round of the World Cup Pre-Qualifiers after losing to Switzerland, but can still finish second in Group A.
Ireland and Kosovo are level in Group A with 2-3 records ahead of their final game against Azerbaijan in Baku on Sunday. Only the group winners and the best runner-up from three groups advance to the second round, with the results against the fourth placed team in Group A removed.
Ireland lost out 85-54 against the Group A winners in Fribourg on Thursday but were trailing by just one at 13-12 midway through the first quarter. Switzerland had the stronger finish however to lead 30-16.
Neal Quinn, John Carroll, Conor Quinn’s all featured in the second quarter to help Ireland reduce the gap to eight points. But the Swiss charged on again to build up a 48-31 half-time advantage.
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They were 67-40 by the end of the third quarter and continued to keep Ireland at bay in the final quarter.
“It’s very hard to put my finger on it now, we got off to a very slow start which didn’t help, giving up 30 points in the first quarter, it just meant we were chasing the game the whole time,” said Ireland men’s head coach Mark Keenan.
“If you told me that Switzerland were going to score 85 before the game I’d have said ‘yeah we can be in that game’, but we really struggled to score, 16 points in the first quarter, nine points in the third quarter – that really undid us. We battled hard to try and get under that 20 point mark, but Mbala came up with some huge three pointers in the fourth quarter with the shotclock running out that kind of broke our hearts.”
Commenting on Ireland’s Ireland’s next fixture in Baku against Azerbaijan on Sunday, Keenan added:
“We want to bounce back, we’re not happy with that performance, so we have to put it right for ourselves now on Sunday in the last game in the group. We will regroup, we’ll shake that off now, because we’re on the road tomorrow and we can’t dwell. We want to try and finish the campaign positively and we will be going after a win in Azerbaijan.”
Ireland:
Adrian O’Sullivan (3), James Hannigan (0), David Lehane (0), Rapolas Buivydas (2), Sean Jenkins (2), Sean Flood (6), Conor Quinn (3), Jordan Blount (12), John Carroll (5), Matt Treacy (0), Kyle Hosford (3) Neal Quinn (18).
Switzerland:
Boris Mbala (19), Yoan Granvorka (11), Paul Gravet (6), Selim Fofana (17), Toni Rocak (8), Yuri Solca (0), Laurent Zoccoletti (2), Jamal Jelani Deon George (2), Noe Anabir (2), Dylan Ducommun (16), Robert Zinn (0), Kevin Martina (2)
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Ireland miss out on progressing in World Cup Pre-Qualifiers after Switzerland loss
IRELAND HAVE MISSED out on reaching the second round of the World Cup Pre-Qualifiers after losing to Switzerland, but can still finish second in Group A.
Ireland and Kosovo are level in Group A with 2-3 records ahead of their final game against Azerbaijan in Baku on Sunday. Only the group winners and the best runner-up from three groups advance to the second round, with the results against the fourth placed team in Group A removed.
Ireland lost out 85-54 against the Group A winners in Fribourg on Thursday but were trailing by just one at 13-12 midway through the first quarter. Switzerland had the stronger finish however to lead 30-16.
Neal Quinn, John Carroll, Conor Quinn’s all featured in the second quarter to help Ireland reduce the gap to eight points. But the Swiss charged on again to build up a 48-31 half-time advantage.
They were 67-40 by the end of the third quarter and continued to keep Ireland at bay in the final quarter.
“It’s very hard to put my finger on it now, we got off to a very slow start which didn’t help, giving up 30 points in the first quarter, it just meant we were chasing the game the whole time,” said Ireland men’s head coach Mark Keenan.
“If you told me that Switzerland were going to score 85 before the game I’d have said ‘yeah we can be in that game’, but we really struggled to score, 16 points in the first quarter, nine points in the third quarter – that really undid us. We battled hard to try and get under that 20 point mark, but Mbala came up with some huge three pointers in the fourth quarter with the shotclock running out that kind of broke our hearts.”
Commenting on Ireland’s Ireland’s next fixture in Baku against Azerbaijan on Sunday, Keenan added:
“We want to bounce back, we’re not happy with that performance, so we have to put it right for ourselves now on Sunday in the last game in the group. We will regroup, we’ll shake that off now, because we’re on the road tomorrow and we can’t dwell. We want to try and finish the campaign positively and we will be going after a win in Azerbaijan.”
Ireland:
Adrian O’Sullivan (3), James Hannigan (0), David Lehane (0), Rapolas Buivydas (2), Sean Jenkins (2), Sean Flood (6), Conor Quinn (3), Jordan Blount (12), John Carroll (5), Matt Treacy (0), Kyle Hosford (3) Neal Quinn (18).
Switzerland:
Boris Mbala (19), Yoan Granvorka (11), Paul Gravet (6), Selim Fofana (17), Toni Rocak (8), Yuri Solca (0), Laurent Zoccoletti (2), Jamal Jelani Deon George (2), Noe Anabir (2), Dylan Ducommun (16), Robert Zinn (0), Kevin Martina (2)
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