Ireland secure top spot in World Cup qualifying pool
- Published
Ireland men secured top spot in their FIH Hockey World Cup qualifying group thanks to a 4-1 win over Poland in Wednesday's final Pool B game in Chile.
The Irish made it two wins from two thanks to a 6-1 thrashing of Korea on Tuesday, which secured a place in the last four of the tournament.
They followed that up with another four goals against Poland to complete a perfect pool stage ahead of Friday's semi-final, where victory will secure a spot for the World Cup later this year.
Louis Rowe got Ireland up and running after 15 minutes before Lee Cole scored his fifth goal of the tournament from a penalty corner to double their advantage before half-time.
Ben Walker's efforts were rewarded with a goal in the 40th minute before Matt Nelson wrapped things up with the fourth after their opponents had pulled back a late consolation through Wojciech Rutkowski.