IRELAND’S HOPES OF qualifying for next summer’s Men’s EuroHockey Championship are over after they were stunned by Poland in Dublin on Saturday.

Peter Brown and Shane O’Donoghue missed the decisive penalties in the shootout after Mark Tumilty’s side had been held to a 0-0 draw by the side ranked 19 places below them.

After racking up a record 25-0 win against Malta in their qualifying tournament opener on Thursday, Ireland needed to beat Poland for a place in tomorrow’s final and with it, a chance to put their name on one of the two remaining tickets to Moenchengladbach.

Ireland couldn’t find a breakthrough in regulation time in the face of some stout defending by Polish goalkeeper Mateusz Popiolkowski, who then made vital stops from Brown and O’Donoghue in a 4-2 shootout win.

Poland will take on Wales in Sunday’s decider after they beat Czechia 7-1 in the first semi-final. Ireland will play Czechia in the third-/fourth-place play-off at 1.45pm.