Ireland U21 set up Japan tie at World Lacrosse Men's U21 World Championship at UL

IRELAND U21 lacrosse team defeated Germany for the second time in the 2022 World Lacrosse Men's U21 World Championship at UL on Thursday, recording an 11-3 victory.

The Germans managed to win the first face off of the game played at Maguire's Field. They went on to control the ball for the opening three minutes of the contest, but Ireland's defence held out strong.

Ireland then managed to break away on the counter-attack with Conor Foley feeding the ball to Kevin Somerville who gave the Irish side the lead against the run of play.

The Germans were still piling on the pressure and eventually managed to level the tie with ten minutes to go in the opening quarter.

Ireland started to control the play after that equalising goal. With five minutes left in the quarter, Sean Horkan assisted Kevin Somerville to give his side a one goal lead at the first break, 2-1.

The second quarter was a much more one-sided affair as the Irish team started to control the game. They extended their lead when Foley assisted Aidan Dempsey to open his account for the day.

With three minutes left in the quarter, and Ireland in complete control, Foley finally netted for his side after a solo run through the German rearguard.

The last goal of the half came from Dempsey again. This left four goals between the sides at the break.

After the break, it was more of the same from Ireland. This was until the Germans managed to sneak in for their second goal of the game.

Ireland netted twice more in the quarter with Foley firing in after another solo run. It was Somerville who completed his hat-trick with two minutes left in the quarter to give his side a five goal advantage going into the final quarter.

The final quarter of this tie saw Ireland concede a consolation goal to the visitors.

At the other end of the pitch, the Ireland attack managed to add to their goal tally. Jack Doherty fired in another long range effort, before Somerville added two more to his tally for the day. The final goal of the game came from Dempsey with six minutes left before the final whistle.

With the game over as a contest, coach Tom Prior and the coaching staff emptied the bench. This led to Conor Breen making an appearance in goal. Within minutes he had made two great saves for his side as they ran out comfortable winners in the end.

Ireland play Japan at 3.30pm today, Friday, as they bid to gain the highest seeding possible from this tournament.

Ireland U21: Conor Breen; Matthew Brennan, Ben Collins , Gavin Conlan; Finn Daly. Aidan Dempsey, Jack Doherty, Conor Foley, Jack Galvin ,Joseph Gehle, Sean Horkan, Liam Horkan, Ridley Horton, Aedan Kearns, Fionn Kinsella , Matt Loftus, Sean Loftus, Patrick McKee, Brady Morin, Kevin Somerville, Michael Songer, Jack Songer, Joe Walsh, Ronan Walsh.