Ireland clinch World Cup place with win over Wales
· Yahoo Sports
Ireland have clinched their place in the Hockey World Cup finals in August with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Wales in the semi-finals of the qualification tournament in Santiago.
In an outstanding display Johnny Lynch scored twice with Louis Rowe and Matthew Nelson getting the other goals as the Irish ended an eight year wait to return to the biggest tournament in the sport, outside of the Olympics.
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Wales will get another opportunity to join Ireland in the finals hosted by the Netherlands and Belgium if they can beat Poland in the third/fourth place play-off on Sunday.
Ireland will meet France in the final as they look to end the qualification tournament on a high.
“I think it's just reward for the performances the lads have put in this week,” explained Ireland Head Coach Mark Tumilty.
“We arrived here early for preparation, we took a trip to Valencia and Granada which was important for preparation so Hockey Ireland deserves a lot of credit for that.
“The performance director as well for giving us the preparation that we needed.
“I think the squad deserves to be in the World Cup and our world ranking reflects that, so yeah, I’m very pleased with how we performed this week.
“Ireland need to be at the World Cup, I think with a 16 team World Cup we need to be at it but I think the way we've qualified there is important, the style of hockey we've played this week.”
Ireland take early lead with stunning strike
Ireland’s nerves were settled after just 47 seconds with a stunning opening goal. Jeremy Duncan’s diagonal ball into the circle was met on the reverse stick by Lynch, who lifted it high into the net and beyond Welsh goalkeeper Toby Reynolds-Cotterill.
These two sides had met twelve times before with Ireland winning eight of those encounters but Wales had won twice in a shootout in two of the biggest matches, a similar scenario four years ago with a World Cup place on the line, and in the final of the FIH Nations Cup Division 2 last year.
So while they dominated possession, Ireland were desperate for a second goal and it came in the 26th minute. Nelson held onto the ball before releasing Rowe who tucked it inside the post
The third goal for Ireland came just after half-time when Lynch turned in his second goal of the game from close range, converting the pass from Fergus Gibson.
With the Welsh discipline letting them down, Ireland took full advantage by adding a fourth when Nelson and Lynch played a one-two with the former applying the finish.
Ireland will now meet France in Sunday’s final of the tournament with world ranking points at stake and with a win Mark Tumilty’s side will move well inside the world’s top ten.
The French beat Poland 4-2 to claim their place in the World Cup.
Meanwhile Ireland’s women will look to qualify for the finals when they face Australia on Saturday evening (21:00 GMT).
The two countries met recently in the FIH Pro League with the first game finishing 0-0 and Ireland victorious 4-2 in the second.