Argentina v Ireland 4-3 (2-2): Home team books three points in nailbiter

The home team's first match in the Argentina Hockey Champions Challenge 1 was expected to be a close affair, and the first half hour thus came as an unpleasant surprise to the home crowd as Ireland pulled away with a two goal advantage.

John Jermyn had opened the scoring, celebrating his 150th cap with a penalty stroke goal, followed by a Timmy Cockram penalty corner conversion that pushed the scoreline to 2-0. Argentina scrambled to avoid losing track but soon started gaining traction again when young star Gonzalo Peillat sunk a penalty corner and Lucas Vila scored a field goal in quick succession.

The teams went into halftime at 2-2, but Argentina had pried the door open again and was not about to let go. Dominating play over long stretches of time, the hosts added 2 more goals with the same authors, as Peillat converted another penalty corner and Lucas Vila scored another field goal with only thre minutes left.

Ireland fought hard to turn the match back around but in the second half, Argentina was the better team, showing off some lovely hockey skills. Michael Watt managed another goal for Ireland in the final minute of the match, but couldn't void the defeat, as the home crowd cheered their team's opening victory.