Paul Revington’s side were initially anticipated to be heading to Japan by the IHA but when Belgium stunned Spain in the August’s European championships, it had a knock-on effect of requiring a new qualifier host.

And Ireland – off the back of last summer’s successful women’s Champion’s Challenge I hosting – were approached to fill the void. They face a tough but manageable six-team pool though they will have to oust world number six side Korea for the one available place at the Olympics.

Ireland do have a psychological boost having beaten the Asian side 5-1 last summer in Paris and have a decent recent record against world number 14 side Malaysia – the home nation of Irish assistant coach Arul Anthoni.
Russia, Chile and Ukraine look to be rank outsiders for the tournament which runs from March 11 to 18, 2011.

On the women’s side, Ireland were spared an expensive trip to Asia as they were drawn to play in Beerschot in Belgium. They are the second ranked side in the group and have a score to settle with the hosts who beat Ireland comfortably in the Europeans. Spain are the top rank with Russia, Mexico and France filling out the six places in a tournament which begins on St Patrick’s Day.

South Africa’s bizarre decision to turn down an automatic qualifying berth as African champions and go through the qualifiers saw Argentina – the current World Cup holders – take an unexpected berth in London without recourse to the qualifiers having lost out in the Pan-American championships.

With both tournaments being played in March, this will have the knock-on effect of pushing the fourth and fifth rounds of the Irish Hockey League onto the weekends of April 14 and 21 while the quarter-finals of the Irish Senior Cup are pencilled in for May 12 with the semi-finals and finals taking place a week later.

Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments
New Delhi, India (February 15-26 TBC): India, Canada, France, Poland, Egypt, United States
Dublin (March 11-18): Korea, Malaysia, Ireland, Russia, Chile, Ukraine
Kakamigahara, Japan (April 25-May 6, TBC): Spain, Japan, China, Austria, Czech Republic, Cuba

Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments:
New Delhi, India (February 15-26): South Africa, India, Italy, Canada, Ukraine, Poland
Beerschot, Belgium (March 17-25): Spain, Ireland, Belgium, Russia, France, Mexico
Kakamigahara, Japan (April 25-May 6): Japan, Azerbaijan, Chile, Belarus, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago

Along with Mary Goode, the Loreto stopper (pictured receiving on her 50th cap in July last year against Australia) stepped away from the panel in 2010, taking the time out to progress her career in the gardai. But she returns in good time to battle it out for a place in the Olympic qualifiers with Emma Gray and Pamela Smithwick.

On the debit side, though, Julia O’Halloran has withdrawn from the panel. The 24 year-old attacking midfielder, an ever-present in the European championships and Champion’s Challenge, withdrew from the programme in the past few weeks, just prior to the panel resuming full training mode.

With Jean McDonnell also omitted from the selection, it has opened the door for teenagers Deirdre Duke and Gillian Pinder to possibly stake a claim for forward places due to the reduction in options in the latest selection. They, along with Leah Ewart, have been added to the panel on a probation basis.

It is the beginning of preparations for an Olympic qualifying tournament in the spring which looks likely to be played in Japan in April though the IHA are still hopeful of bringing the competition to Dublin.

Ireland’s next opportunity to test themselves in a competitive setting is in Argentina this December where they will compete in two four nations tournaments.

Speaking about the squad, High Performance Director Dave Passmore spoke about the challenges ahead for the latest selection, confirming players would increasingly be available to train with their clubs.

“After a well earned rest it is good to see the girls back into their full training program which now includes a club session each week. The real developmental impact of the CPP program should be realised through the next period of the program and with the Argentina trip in December being a timely opportunity to view the development made as the girls move into the final push towards the Olympic qualifier”

Ireland panel: Niamh Atcheler (UCD), Hannah Bowe (Slough), Emma Clarke (Leicester), Aine Connery (Hermes), Lizzie Colvin (Loreto), Miriam Crowley(Hermes), Nicci Daly (Loreto), Nicola Evans (Railway Union), Emma Gray (Hermes), Louisa Healy (Loreto), Michelle Harvey (Pegasus), Lisa Jacob (Hermes), Sinead McCarthy (Hermes), Shirley McCay (Old Alex), Anna O’ Flanagan (UCD), Audrey O’Flynn (Hermes), Cliodhna Sargent (Cork Harlequins), Niamh Small (Loreto), Emma Smyth (Railway Union), Alex Speers (Railway Union), Nikki Symmons (Loreto), Pam Smithwick (Old Alex), Chloe Watkins (UCD)
Probation players: Deirdre Duke (UCD), Leah Ewart (UCD), Gillian Pinder (Hermes)

Pegasus have found out their initial opposition, facing Belgium’s La Gantoise, Russia’s Metrostroy St Petersburg and Lithuania’s Gintra Stretke Universitas but they have yet to find out the venue for their competition which takes place in April. Ireland’s second team – in this case Hermes – moved up a tier by virtue of Railway and Loreto’s strong performances in Europe last term to see the nation’s ranking improve slightly.

** Following a request to tender from the FIH for an Olympic Qualifier, the Irish Hockey Association have submitted a bid proposal to host an Olympic Qualifier in Dublin (March 2012).The proposal from the IHA covers the option of hosting either a dual or single event with the proposal set to be answered in mid-November.

Belgium men’s direct qualification for the Olympics from the European championships opened up this possibility as they were initially awarded the hosting of a qualifier. There is also some doubt over whether India will host a dual men’s and women’s qualifier due to an on-going feud between their two national federations – Hockey India and the Indian Hockey Federation – which has already seen the nation stripped of hosting December’s Champions Trophy.

New Zealand and Australia’s men rubber-stamped their place at the 2012 Olympics on Sunday from the Oceania Cup leaving just the Pan-Am Games to be completed of the continental qualifiers. It tips off on October 19 in Guadalajara with one automatic place in London for both men and women. Four men’s nations will go into the qualifiers from this region while there are six women’s places on offer.

** The IHA will launch Hooked for Life, Long Term Player Development in the coming weeks.. Hooked for Life is a document for coaches that lays out technical information per phase, small sided formats for coaches working with children, goalkeeping information as well as physical, mental and health considerations.

The hockey community and, in particular, all coaches are invited to regional launches for this initiative which will also include an open Q&A forum. For Leinster, questions must be submitted in advance to leinsterhockey@gmail.com before noon on October 17.

There is an opportunity to ask questions, meet with employees and board members of the IHA, learn about Hooked for Life and pick up newly designed game sheets for players aged between 6-13.

To register your attendance (which is free), email coaching@hockey.ie to guarantee a free Hooked for Life resource pack
Railway Union will host the Leinster launch on October 19 at 6.45pm. In Munster, it is on October 26 (7pm) in Cork Harlequins; Connact is on November 9 (7.15pm) in the Claregalway hotel and the Ulster launch is in the Pavilion in Stormont on November 16 (6.45pm).

On the men’s side, newly crowned European champions Germany will be joined at the London 2012 Olympic Games by tournament silver medallists the Netherlands. The two giants of the world game have won four out of the last five Olympic titles, and will surely be two of the teams to beat in London.

Despite being pipped to the bronze medal by England, the third Olympic qualification place was taken by Belgium by virtue of Great Britain’s pre-qualification as hosts.

Ireland are one of the next eight in line for the qualifiers from Europe which begin early next year. These will be the four teams in Mönchengladbach that did not achieve direct qualification – Spain, Russia and France – as well as the next four highest ranked sides, excluding Scotland and Wales who come under the British banner, which were the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria and Ukraine.

Pakistan has taken the one automatic space from Asia with Malaysia, Korea, China, India and Japan going into the qualifier arena. Australia and New Zealand are likely to take the Oceania with just Fiji for competition for their two spaces.

South Africa’s main rival for the single African place comes from Egypt with silver medallist there going to the qualifiers. This campaign starts in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe on Friday at the Khumalo stadium.

Pan-America looks less clear-cut with Argentina and Canada fighting it out for the continental title with the other side destined for the qualifiers along with the next three sides from their Games which will be played in late October in Mexico.

On the women’s side, the Netherlands continued their brilliant form in the women’s Euros, claiming the title with a 3-0 victory over fellow London 2012 qualifiers Germany.

With GB once again pre-qualifying, Ireland among the next nine sides in Europe who take qualifier slots. Gene Muller’s side will be joined by Spain, Belgium, Azerbaijan and Italy from the A division. From the second tier, winners Scotland are part of the GB umbrella and so will not be in the qualifiers, leaving Belarus, Russia, France and Ukraine the next in line.

From Oceania, Australia and New Zealand had their places at the London 2012 Games confirmed on Monday morning due to the withdrawal of Fiji from the Oceania Cup.

China won the Asian Games with Korea taking the second Olympic place while Japan, India and Malaysia going into the qualifiers. Africa have one direct place in the Olympics but no qualifiers with South Africa very much favourites, the world number 12s well clear in the world rankings of closest rivals Ghana who are 32nd on the world list. Pan-America has one automatic qualifier with six other nations from the continent competing in the qualifiers.

As for the hosting options, the FIH confirmed Belgium, India and Japan as hosts of the tournaments with men’s and women’s tournaments being held in tandem at each of the three venues. According to the IHA, Ireland are currently expected to see both men and women play in Kakamigahara near Nagoya in Japan.

This situation, though, could be changed in the wake of Belgium’s men surprise, direct qualification. Should the FIH insist tournaments must be run together, the Belgian tournament organiser confirmed to The Hook that they will reluctantly host the men’s tournament in Beerschot even though they would not be taking part.

Should they be able to separate the tournaments, France have already thrown the hat into the ring with Lille put forward as a venue for the men’s event. There is an expectation Spain will also seek to host this event.

A further spanner in the works, the FIH’s current wrangle with the two Indian hockey federations over the proposed World Series of Hockey this December has led to the threat that they will be stripped of their qualifying campaign.

London 2012 Olympics
Men’s qualifiers: Great Britain, Pakistan, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium
Automatic places to be confirmed: Oceania champion and second place; Pan-American champion; African champion
Quotas for Olympic Qualifying Tournament: Africa: 1 (TBC), Asia: 5 (Malaysia, India, Korea, China, Japan), Europe: 8 (IRELAND, Spain, France, Russia, Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Ukraine), Oceania 0, Pan-America 4 (TBC)

Women’s qualifiers: Great Britain, China, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Korea
Automatic places to be confirmed: Pan-American champion; African champion
Quotas for Olympic Qualifying Tournament: Africa: 0, Asia: 3 (Japan, India, Malaysia), Europe: 9 (Spain, Belgium, IRELAND, Azerbaijan, Italy, Belarus, Russia, France, Ukraine), Oceania: 0 Pan America: 6 (TBC)

Pietee Coetzee continued her relentless pursuit of the goals world record with probably the pick of the bunch for the day’s third, a pivotal moment as Japan threatened to wipe out the Africans early 2-0 lead.

Her control made it, controlling a long pass and beating a player in one-touch before rounding on her reverse and firing past Sakiyo Asano.

The rest were close-range efforts, starting with Shelley Russell’s neatly place push, finding a gap under Asano’s pads. That goal came on 90 seconds and the second was not long in coming as Tarryn Bright finished off neatly a corner move from the injector’s spot.

In between those early strikes, Shiho Otsuka’s dainty deflection clipped the inside of Mariette Rix’s post, the net-minder taking over the duties from Vuyisanani Mangisa.

Mie Nakashima had an effort initially given and then chalked off, deemed over shoulder height when she guided the ball in.
It showed Japan’s intent and they bossed much of the first half and they capped that spell with an equally tidy Rika Komazawa corner move on the half hour.

South Africa regrouped in the second half, a more cagey, cat and mouse affair initially. But Coetzee’s 58th minute goal blew the game open, making Japan’s attacks more urgent and making space more readily available.

Kim Hubach calmly flicked in the fourth while Dirkie Chamberlain completed the rout when a messy corner trap saw the ball move left, then right, allowing her a simple tap-in.

Scotland 3 (Nikki Kidd, Sam Judge, Ali Bell) USA 1 (Katie O’Donnell)
Scotland continued their fine start to the Champion’s Challenge as the tournament’s lowest ranked side added to yesterday’s tie with South Africa with a gritty win over the USA – eight places their senior in the world list.

They did through a combination of efficient shooting and resolute defence, Amy Gibson coming into the side to pull off a string of robust saves while Emily Maguire and Leigh Fawcett were immense at the back.

Up top, Nikki Kidd added to her tournament tally with a slightly fortuitous flick, nut-megging Amy Tran-Swensen while Sam
Judge got a high quality go-ahead goal. Ali Bell, creator of the second, confirmed the win three minutes from time with a sharp rebound after Kidd dinged the post.

In between times, the US had a string of chances and were only denied the lead in the sixth minute when Fawcett scrambled to clear off the line.

And the lead came soon after when sub Melissa Gonzalez powered into the circle pushed to the right post where Katie O’Donnell steamed in and got a light touch for 1-0.

The lead lasted just a minute courtesy of Kidd’s leveller but the Americans slightly edged proceedings, Shannon Taylor banging the outside of the goal from Julia Reinprecht’s excellent reverse-cross from the right.

A minute after the interval, Judge was the recipient of brilliant Bell creativity, driving at the heart of the US defence and the striker slammed home from mid-circle.

Thereafter, despite a couple of sin-binnings, the Americans drove forward with purpose. Michelle Vittesse applied a brilliant first-time touch to round Gibson but her second will give her nightmares as she nudged wide of an open goal from three metres out.

Paige Selenski’s reverse was blocked by Gibson; an O’Donnell rebound ballooned off a foot and over; Albini’s corner hits were blocked time after time. Gibson twice emerged from her line to slide out and save on the circle’s left edge, too.

It was similar to USA’s demise at the hands of Japan a day earlier, pushing hard late on but failing to find the net. And it cost them when Scotland countered, Judge first nurdling a volley wide before winning a late corner from which Bell profited.

** Pictures courtesy of Hockey Press Argentina/Rodrigo Jaramillo

Group A standings: 1. South Africa 4pts (+4) 2. Scotland 4pts (+2) 3. Japan 3pts (-3) 4. USA 0pts (-3)

Today’s schedule
Group A: South Africa vs Japan, 1pm
Group B: Azerbaijan vs Ireland, 3.30pm; India vs Spain, 6pm

It adds to as exciting a summer programme as any in recent years for both the men’s and women’s teams with more regular matches against higher quality opposition – both teams facing reigning world champions in the coming months.

Commenting on the programme, High Performance Director Dave Passmore said: “With the need to prepare our national teams fully despite the challenging economic times we are delighted with the schedule of matches and tournaments that our teams have.

“I have no doubt that these will best place both squads for the Europeans in August. Let’s hope the hockey public come out in force, home and away and get behind the great groups of players we have.”

Both teams will compete in their respective Celtic Cups prior to the combined ESB Electric Ireland FIH Champions Challenge I and UCD 4 Nations Event hosted in Belfield, launched officially on Monday night. The men then have a quick turnaround, heading to Paris for their own Champions Challenge event in Lille.

The most recent addition is an exciting trip back to France to play in a Five Nations which includes the world number one ranked team, Australia, Korea, Argentina as well as the French. They subsequently finish off their final preparation with a two match series against Argentina at UCD.

It’s a 20-game warm-up schedule which coach Paul Revington is looking forward to: “We enter a very busy and exciting three-month period with the prospect of tough opposition in every event.

“The summer will provide a great challenge to our players and the number of quality games will also test the strength of a larger squad of players whole will be used to meet the challenges head-on.”

On the women’s side, the CPP means they continue to operate off a reduced fixture list but have secured a visit from world champs Argentina in August like their male counterparts with the possibility of a Belfield public seeing the sparkling skills of Luciana Aymar who returned this week to the Las Leonas’ panel. They will be the last opponents before the Euros after Celtic Cup and Champs Challenge campaigns.

Speaking about the women’s summer, Gene Muller said: “After several months of hard technical, physical and tactical work we will soon be able to see the impact to date of the CPP on the development of the group. The players and staff are looking forward to the challenges ahead and pitting ourselves, at home against so many quality teams.”

Men’s Programme:
Celtic Cup, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, Wales
June 17: Ireland v Scotland, 4pm; June 18: Ireland v France; June 19: Ireland vs Wales, 1.15pm
UCD Men s 4 Nations II, Belfield (June 20-25)
June 20: Ireland vs China, 8pm; June 22: Ireland vs France, 8pm; June 24: Ireland vs Pakistan; June 25: Playoff fixture, 6/8pm
FIH Men’s Champions Challenge II, Lille, France
July 2: Ireland v Scotland, 3pm; July 3: Ireland vs France, 5pm; July 5: Ireland vs Russia, 3pm; July 7-10: classification matches
INSEP 5 Nations, Paris, France (July 26-30):
July 26: Ireland vs Korea, 3.30pm; July 27: Ireland vs Australia, 4pm; July 29: Ireland vs Argentina, 4pm; July 30: Ireland vs France, 5.40pm
Friendly series, Belfield (August 6-7)
August 6: Ireland v Argentina, 3pm; August 7: Ireland v Argentina, 3pm
European Nations Cup, Monchengladbach, Germany (August 20-28)
August 21: Ireland v England, 10am; Aug 22: Ireland v France, 1pm; Aug 24: Ireland v Netherlands, 6pm; Aug 26-28: classification matches

Women’s Programme:
Women’s Celtic Cup Largs, Scotland, (June 3-5)
June 4: Ireland v Wales, 2pm; June 5: Ireland v Scotland, 2pm
International friendly, June 6: Ireland vs Scotland, 1pm, Largs
ESB Electric Ireland Champions Challenge I, UCD, Dublin (June 18-26)
June 18: Ireland v India, 3pm; June 19: Ireland v Azerbaijan, 3.30pm; June 21: Ireland v Spain, 6.30pm; June 23-26: classification matches
International friendly series (August 12-14)
Aug 12: Ireland v Argentina, 6pm; Aug 14: Ireland v Argentina, 6pm
European Nations Cup, Monchengladbach, Germany (August 20-28)
Aug 20: Ireland v Germany, 6pm; Aug 21: Ireland v Belgium, 8pm; Aug 23: Ireland v England, 1pm; Aug 25-27: Classification matches

Youth fixtures
U-18 Boys and Girls European Youth Championships, Utrecht, Netherlands (July 12-17)
July 12: Ireland girls v Netherlands, 4.05pm; Ireland boys v Netherlands, 6.05pm; July 13: Ireland girls v Scotland, 4pm; Ireland boys v Russia, 6pm; July 14: Ireland boys v Germany, 4pm; Ireland girls v Belgium, 6pm; July 16-17: Classification matches
U-16 Boys Tri-Nations Tournament, INSEP, Paris (July 4-7)
U-16 Girls, Netherlands/Germany tour (August 18-21)

It was the boys in green’s most impressive performance of the week, stretching Ireland’s unbeaten run against the Scots to 15 games – dating back to November 2006.

Eugene Magee fired them into a 22nd minute lead with a reverse-stick shot into the bottom left corner. Timmy Cockram had a chance to double the advantage soon after when Ronan Gormley’s overhead found Chris Cargo on the left wing who fed Cockram but his shot was smothered away.

Scotland picked up a pair of green card sin-binnings before the break and were stung deeper still early in the second half. Gormley again started the move, playing the ball inside to Joe Brennan who slapped a vicious ball into the circle for Peter Caruth to deflect home for the day’s second goal.

The Scots best opportunity came from a 56th penalty corner but it was snuffed out and the greens ended the game primarily on the attack and Iain Walker, in his maiden tournament appearance, completing a shut out.

Speaking after the game, Irish assistant coach Arul Anthoni said: “We are very pleased with the fact that the team got stronger each game and kept improving collectively” with the side working on the development of a new man-to-man defensive system.

Wednesday and Thursday’s draws were ultimately the sticking point as Ireland had chances against both Poland and France to grab the win. It left them to subsequently made to wait on text messages and phone call updates of the final score from the tournament’s final game as they made their way to the airport for early return flights to Dublin.

France were well in that crucial tie, level at 1-1 with 46 minutes gone via Fabian Magner penalty stroke. But Malaysia swept into a 4-1 lead with Hanafi Hafifihafiz scoring a brace to take the title before a late consolation goal closed out the Parisian tournament.

Ireland: Iain Walker, John Jackson, Geoff McCabe, Ronan Gormley (capt), Joe Brennan, Eugene Magee, Andy McConnell, Mitch Darling, Timmy Cockram, David Ames, Conor Harte Subs: Chris Cargo, Alan Giles, Peter Caruth, Alan Sothern, Phelie Maguire

Scotland: James Cachia, Mark Ralph, Chris Nelson, Kenny Bain, William Marshall, Iain Scholefield, Niall Stott, Gareth Hall, Ross Stott, Cameron Fraser, Gordon McIntyre
Subs: Stephen Dick, Derek Salmond, Alan Forsyth, Vishal Marwaha, Gavin Byers

Results: Ireland 2 (Eugene Magee Peter Caruth) Scotland 0; Malaysia 4 (Hanafi Hafifihafiz 2, Izwan Firdaus, Mahammad Razie) France 2 (Fabian Magner, Martin Genestet)

Final Standings: 1. Malaysia 9pts (+3) 3. Ireland 8pts (+5) 3. Scotland 6pts (-3) 4. France 4pts (-1) 5. Poland 1pt (-4)

*** Photos from Federico Pestellini

Women’s hockey World Cup Qualifiers – day seven
Ireland 1 (Alex Speers) Australia 4 (Hope Munro 2, Nicole Arrold, Shelly Liddelow)
Ireland produced a strong showing but ultimately closed out their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 4-1 defeat against the mighty Australia. The scoreline, though, was flattering to the hockeyroos but was good enough for Ireland to hold on for bronze with Scotland beating Chile 1-0.

The game’s main turning point, though, came in the 48th minute when Bridget Cleland was adjudged to have nudged over Shelly Liddelow with a penalty stroke the harsh outcome.

Nicole Arrold duly converted to end an Irish uprising which had seen Alex Speers reduce an early deficit and the side dominate proceedings either side of the half-time break.

It knocked the stuffing out of an Irish side that were at their most threatening and pushing hard for an equaliser.

Liddelow added a fourth late on to copper-fasten her side’s place in the showpiece event next August.

Early on, Hope Munro had put the Australians in the driving seat, deflecting home two well-worked corner routines. But Speers responded in kind with a similar effort, switched her way by Audrey O’Flynn from Ireland’s first corner.

And the greens were performing well, shutting down the Australians usual fast-paced attacks with Nikki Symmons, Michelle Harvey, Cliodhna Sargent and Bridget Cleland performing admirably.

Harvey saw one effort blocked down while Lizzie Colvin and Eimear Cregan were prominent in attack as Ireland controlled the start of the second half.

But during this period, a Cleland nudge in the circle on Shelly Liddelow was deemed worthy of a penalty stroke and Arrold netted the game-breaking goal

For Ireland, it ended a tough tournament with positivity over performance but disappointment with a harsh final scoreline.

Speaking afterwards, captain Eimear Cregan was pleased with the resilience shown after a tough opening to the tournament.

“It was an excellent performance today from the whole squad, really committed, work rate was really high. I don’t think the score reflected the game, we were in it for large patches and we started the second half brilliantly and played them off the park. The tactics worked to a tee and we grew in confidence as the game went on.

“At 2-1 down, we were in the ascendancy but the umpire gave the stroke which made it a lot tougher to get going. We played good hockey throughout, though, and showed what we can do.

“In circle play, there’s always going to be nudging and pushing from both players. We think it’s harsh but you have to go with the umpire’s decision.”

With Scotland beating Chile 1-0 in the tournament’s final game, Ireland ended the competition in third place.

Ireland: M Goode, M Harvey, C Sargent, E Cregan (capt), E Clarke, B Cleland, L Jacob, A Speers, N Symmons, E Smyth, L Colvin
Subs: S McCay, J O’Halloran, M Frazer, A O’Flynn, N Small

Australia: T Cronk, C Eastham, K Walker, A Nelson, A Flanagan, K Hollywood, M Blyth (capt), S Liddelow, N Arrold, K McGurk, T Attard
Subs: F Johnson, S Joseph, H Munro, A Korner, C Messent

Final standings (points, goal difference): 1. Australia 12pts (+18) 2. Scotland 9pts (+7) 3. Ireland 3pts (-5) 4. Chile 3pts (-9) 5. Malaysia 3pts (-12)

* For more of HockeyPress Argentina’s photos from Ireland’s game with Australia, click here. For the live match-tracker from the game, click here and for interviews to download and listen to with Gene Muller, click here and with Eimear Cregan, click here.

World Cup Qualifiers – Day Five
Australia 2 (Casey Eastham, Madonna Blyth) Scotland 1 (Holly Cram)
Scotland gave Australia a reasonable scare in Santiago on Friday but nonetheless got the win that put them on the edge of a place in the World Cup, needing just a point from their game with Ireland on Sunday – though should Scotland or Chile drop points on Saturday, even that will not be necessary.

Corner deflections from Casey Eastham and Madonna Blyth had the hockeyroos in charge at the break, converting two of their three set-pieces. But Scotland refused to die down, pressurising while Hope Munro spent time in the sin-bin and earning a number of corners.

Holly Cram did pull one back late on but there was not enough time to force an equaliser which would have truly put the cat amongst the pigeons. 18 places separate the sides in the world list but the Scots have impressed thus far and could well close that gap by week’s end.

Standings (played, points, goal difference): 1. Australia 3-9pts (+15) 2. Scotland 2-3pts (+1) 3. Chile 2-3pts (-4) 4. Malaysia 3-3pts (-7) 5. Ireland 2-0pts (-5)

* Photo courtesy of Lorne Cowley/FIH

Ireland’s mathematical chances of reaching the World Cup were ended this afternoon in Santiago and, while there was more life to their performance, a lack of real incision cost them dear against a zesty Scottish outfit.

The Scots showed fewer ill-effects of their short acclimatisation period – arriving 48 hours before the fixture – as, after a few early glitches, they began to boss proceedings.

Gene Muller’s side did show up stronger than on Wednesday but the key difference came in either circle when Scotland were always able to get a shot away while Ireland’s efforts were scrappy and scrambled and, bar a Niamh Small aerial, never stretched Abigail Walker.

With Laura Bartlett and Samantha Judge the instigators, Scotland earned the game’s first three corners.

None drew a save from Mary Goode and it was Small – with her first act of the tournament – who went closest in the first quarter, using one hand to brilliantly flick the ball past the last defender and shoot high, forcing Abigail Walker to palm over the endline.

Emily Maguire clattered the Scot’s third corner wide as did Kareena Marshall from their fourth effort after Emma Smyth’s excellent initial block.

After soaking up their share of pressure, though, Eimear Cregan became the game’s key player. Her three-dimensional skills created a pair of chances, breaking in from the left flank.

The first squeezed just away from Julia O’Halloran’s stick at close quarters. And Cregan drove forward to earn her side’s corner but Michelle Harvey was shut down before she could connect.

The game opened up further when Aimee Clark was sin-binned and Ireland produced a razor-sharp break through Nikki Symmons’ intuition and Emma Smyth’s pace played in Cregan to ghost back from the baseline and shoot, skewing across goal via a defender’s stick.

But Scotland got the perfect sucker-punch when the influential Judge drove through a couple of tackles and shot.

The rebound fell her way and she nudged it right of the goal where Alison Bell touched home for a half-time advantage.

Cregan earned another corner soon after the break but a mix-up meant no shot accrued for a second time, much to Muller’s frustration.

By contrast, Scotland had two bites of the cherry from their fifth corner, demanding some excellent goalkeeping from Mary Goode in the 53rd minute before also denying Ailsa Robertson and Aimee Clark.

Into the last five minutes and piling forward, Nikki Symmons raced up from sweeper but her cross did not make passed a packed Scottish defence.

And they broke at pace, creating a three-on-two which they used to perfection to eliminate the cover defence, laying up for Vikki Bunce to power home 2-0 from five yards.

Emma Clarke was sin-binned for dissent in the aftermath and it almost got worse for the Irish inside 60 seconds when Bartlett scrambled home but, after a lengthy discussion, the effort was ruled out. It was academic for Ireland but goal difference could be a factor later this week for the Scots.

Speaking about the fixture, coach Gene Muller was frustrated about his side’s inability to finish off the chances they created, saying:

“It was a better performance than against Malaysia. I felt we had chances early on that we didn’t capitalise on and I felt our execution was poor especially at corners – something we’ve spent a lot of time on.

“Two of them broke down when we could have gone ahead. When they are one up in the last ten minutes you have to go for it. We went for it, created a few chances but got caught with just two at the back so that’s the way it goes.”

His thoughts were echoed by captain Eimear Cregan: “We battled hard and were a lot more committed than we were against Malaysia but didn’t create as many chances as we should have with the possession we had and corners didn’t come off.

“It’s a very hard lesson to learn but we go back to the drawing board, put it to bed and when we play Chile on Saturday give it all we’ve got.”

Ireland are now out of the running for a World Cup spot but must play Chile and Australia to confirm their final ranking place in the competition and world ranking points over the weekend. The Australians, meanwhile, outlined their favourite’s tag with a 9-0 thrashing of Malaysia.

* For more of HockeyPress Argentina’s photos from the Ireland vs Scotland game, click here. To download and listen to a post-match interview with Gene Muller, click here while Eimear Cregan’s interview can be found here. For the live match-tracker, click here

Ireland: M Goode, R Flinn, C Sargent, E Cregan (capt), E Clarke, B Cleland, A Speers, J O’Halloran, N Symmons, A O’Flynn, E Smyth
Subs: M Harvey, S McCay, M Frazer, L Colvin, N Small

Scotland: A Walker, V Bunce, A Bell, C Forrest, S Judge, L Bartlett, A Robertson, E Maguire, L Wrightson, L Fawcett, K Marshall
Subs: K Cameron, H Cram, L Clement (capt), C Dow, A Clark

Standings (played, points, goal difference): 1. Australia 2-6pts (+14) 2. Scotland 1-3pts (+2) 3. Chile 2-3pts (-4) 4. Malaysia 3-3pts (-7) 5. Ireland 2-0pts (-5)