Hockey World Cup: England knock Ireland out with 4-2 win

BHUBANESWAR: In the second match on Day 10 of FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018 England defeated Ireland 4-2 to them out of the Odisha World Cup which helped China to qualify for the knock-out stage (cross-overs). Liam Ansell’s stunning strike was the pick of a six goal thriller as England progressed to the 2018 Hockey Men’s World Cup knockout stages with victory over Ireland. A brilliant performance saw Australia thrash China 11-0 in a Pool B match of the FIH Men’s hockey World Cup 2018. However, China qualified for crossovers as England defeated Ireland 4-2. The forward smashed the ball beyond David Harte in the midst of a goalscoring frenzy early in the second half, with four goals scored in three minutes. David Condon, James Gall and Mark Gleghorne also found the net for England while Ireland’s goals came courtesy of Chris Cargo and Shane O’Donoghue, but it wasn’t enough for them to qualify.

The result means England finish second in Pool B behind Australia and they will now face New Zealand in the next round, with Ansell believing today’s hard-fought win will set them up perfectly for that game.

Australia finished their Pool B campaign with a dominating 11-0 win over a hapless China in the ongoing Men’s Hockey World Cup at Kalinga Stadium on Friday. Beginning the proceedings early in the first quarter, the Aran Zalewski-led side won a penalty corner in the 10th minute through Jake Harvie, with forward Blake Govers making no mistake to open the scoring for Australia with a superb drag-flick dispatched into roof of the net.

In the 15th minute, skipper Zalewski doubled the lead. As Chinese goalkeeper Wang Caiyu saved a Jeremy Hayward drag-flick, Dylan Wotherspoon latched onto the rebound and cut a pass to skipper Zalewski, who completed the goal at the far post. The goals galore did not stop, as Tom Craig, in the 16th minute, scored Australia’s third goal soon after the start of the second quarter. Craig finished the goal from close range after Matt Dawson and Flynn Ogilvie exchanged one-touch passes on the left side. In the 19th minute, Govers scored his second and the fourth goal for Australia.

After having failed to convert from two successive penalty corners, the defending world champions made the third one count in the 22nd minute of the match as Jeremy Hayward placed his shot into the bottom right corner to bring up his side’s fifth goal. In the 29th minute, Jake Whetton added the sixth goal before going into half-time. Eddie Ockenden and Govers put Whetton through on the goal with just the Chinese goalkeeper to beat, with forward emphatically finishing his job.

In the 33rd minute, Tim Brand continued the Australian onslaught with the seventh goal for his side, before Govers completed his hattrick in the 34th minute. Hayward pounced on a loose ball just outside the penalty area and passed it to Govers, who smashed it past a helpless Wang Caiyu to bring up his third and Australia’s eighth.