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5th August 2018
05:59pm BST

The Dutch opened the scoring after eight minutes of the first quarter. Lidewij Welten struck from the edge of the circle past Ayeisha McFerran in the Irish goal.
https://twitter.com/RTEsport/status/1026131714471387136
The Netherlands settled into the game from that point and forced the Irish team back. They had to do a lot of defending.
Ireland were resolute and worked extremely hard, but their illustrious opponents launched wave after wave of attack.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/1026132652464713730
It was soon 2-0. Kelly Jonker followed up a rebound from an Irish save to double the Netherlands' lead.
https://twitter.com/RTEsport/status/1026135566725799936
Ireland were hanging on at times and McFerran was forced to make several saves.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/1026136267514437632
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/1026136665218273280
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/1026137375402065920
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/1026138049141506048
The third Dutch goal came from a penalty corner, Kitty van Male knocked it home.
https://twitter.com/RTEsport/status/1026138723405066241
Ireland went four down just before half-time.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/1026139183423934464
https://twitter.com/RTEsport/status/1026139289858367488
The Dutch team are all full-time professionals and had odds of 7/1 on to win the final. The Irish team are amateurs were ranked 16th in the world before the tournament. They surpassed every expectation to reach the final.
On Saturday, they recorded a sensational semi-final victory over Spain in a dramatic shoot-out. In the quarter-finals, Ireland beat India in a shoot-out. Sunday's final was always going to be a difficult encounter against such a talented team.
The Netherlands are ranked first in the world and it showed on Sunday. They're a classy team and continued where they left off after half-time, scoring twice in the third quarter.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/1026141742934966272
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/1026142732107046913
But Ireland never gave in and tried to push for a goal of their own.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/1026145066753159168
The Irish team weren't expected to get so far in the tournament. They go home with their heads held high and a silver medal. And will always be the first Irish team to reach a senior world final in a field sport.
They are due to have a civic reception at Dublin City Hall on Dame Street on Monday evening.Explore more on these topics:

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