Ireland’s men and women have secured their places in the semi-finals of their World Cup qualifying tournaments in Chile after they both made it two wins out of two in their pools on Tuesday. They are now just a win away from sealing their places in August’s World Cup, with the top three in each tournament guaranteed qualification.
Having beaten Canada 5-2 in their opening game, the men were even more clinical in their 6-1 win over Korea. Greg Williams opened the scoring with his first goal at senior level and while they conceded an equaliser before the end of the first quarter, it was one-way traffic thereafter.
Lee Cole, with a penalty stroke, and Matthew Nelson had Ireland 3-1 up by half-time, after which Louis Rowe added a double and Cole brought his tally in the tournament to four in two games. They are now level on points with Poland, meaning the outcome of the two nations’ meeting on Wednesday will determine who tops the pool.
Fresh from their 5-0 win over Malaysia on Monday, the women produced another impressive display, this time beating Japan, ranked a place above them, 2-1. Niamh Carey gave Ireland the lead in the second quarter when she slid in on the right post to turn home Róisín Upton’s penalty corner strike. A minute before half-time Caoimhe Perdue powered home a drag flick from another corner to double the lead.
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Japan pulled a goal back five minutes from time, but Ireland held out for their win. They finish their pool campaign against Canada on Thursday, the semi-finals taking place on Saturday.
