Ireland's run to the World Cup final has been a remarkable success and despite coming up short in the final - there are plenty of positives to take from the last few weeks. 

Graham Shaw's side were comprehensively beaten by Holland 6-0 in the final but David Fitzgerald was eager to explain how good the World Champions are.

"You look at the Dutch - hockey is their sport, in terms of female participation. They've dominated the sport for years and the team they have right now, in terms of free-flowing scoring, they scored 27 goals in the group stages which was completely unheard of so I think Ireland today ran into a nation where hockey is their main priority.

"They seemed to have developed a team right now which can score for fun."

Despite the lopsided score in the final, the Irish men's keeper was quick to pay tribute on the side after they led the country on an emotional roller-coaster over the last number of weeks.

"Inspirational, absolutely inspirational! I know a lot of the girls personally and you're proud. How proud you are watching them - you know what they are putting in to get there.

"The really big thing is the belief they had - you could see it right from the first game. They believed 'Look, we can keep this ball rolling and we can build on every win.' 

"They took it game-by-game, win-by-win and it was honestly really inspirational to watch them. The nation was behind them going into these last few games and to have the nation of Ireland looking at a hockey match - it's an amazing moment," he added.