Ireland took a big step toward progressing their Olympic qualification ambitions with a 2-0 quarter-final win over Lithuania in Belfield from the UDG Healthcare World League Round Two.
The win sets up a semi-final date with Belarus where a win would ensure they earn a ticket to round three of the World League – the final qualification event for Rio.
Two first half goals from set pieces – one from Nikki Evans, the other from captain Megan Frazer – killed off what proved a low-key battle as the Lithuanians intention to put numbers behind the ball made for a tie low on goalmouth action.
In the early phases, the containment policy meant space in the attacking circle was limited for Ireland but they did run up a series of penalty corners. Gillian Pinder, Frazer and Emma Smyth all had pot-shots before Cliodhna Sargent saw a hit taken off the line by Simona Grubliauskaite.
They eventually broke through in the 20th minute from the fifth corner, Sargent diverting play to the right post where Evans slid in for her second goal of the tournament.
Another penalty corner forged number two as Shirley McCay’s sweep bounced off a defensive foot on the line. Frazer rolled home with little fuss for a 2-0 half-time lead.
Thereafter, Lithuania did not have a shot in anger, meaning there was little tension to the tie while Ireland were thwarted by a jam-packed defence in the second half despite numerous attacks, an exercise in frustration.
Nonetheless, the semi-final berth was assured and now Darren Smith’s side face Belarus in the semi-finals of the competition. Three of those sides will win a place at World League round three.
Speaking afterwards, coach Darren Smith said it was a frustrating game but the result was the all important factor.
“Lithuania slowed the game up and we obliged a bit,” he said. “We needed to try and get out of that hole and try and quicken things up, play the game with a bit more aggression.
“In terms of the result, 2-0 is great as is being in a semi-final. In terms of watching the game, it had that slow tentative feeling and it was hard for us to get out of second gear and was a tough watch.”
As for the game against Belarus in the semi-final, Smith is expecting a much more open tussle. They beat Ukraine 5-1 to reach the final four.
“We played Belarus twice in 2013 and I think they have gotten better and better. They finished strong against Ukraine, have some dangerous forwards and good distributors from the back.
“We look forward to matching up against them on Saturday for a good, hard game to hopefully progress out of World League 2.”
Ireland: E Gray, C Sargent, E Smyth, N Evans, S McCay, M Frazer, A Connery, N Daly, H Matthews A O’Flanagan, G Pinder
Subs: N Carroll, C Watkins, L Colvin, K Mullan, K Dillon, A Meeke, A McFerran
Lithuania: V Vileikyte, E Kalinauskaite, U Chmeliauskaite, K Poskute, D Grigiene, S Grubliauskaite, J Juodyte, S Jakovlevaite, S Adomaviciute, R Zukaite, R Petrauskaite
Subs: I Kenstaviciute, A Garbataviciute, U Aucynaite, E Nomeikaite, E Malyseva, I Paulaviciute, O Maksimovic
Umpires: A Faias, O Klymenko
Earlier news
Over the weekend Ireland proved far too strong for Turkey to complete their World League Round 2 pool games with a huge 13-0 win, with Naomi Carroll netting four times at Belfield.
Emma Smyth weighed in with her first international hat trick while Megan Frazer scored twice with Katie Mullan, Anna O’Flanagan, Nikki Evans and Aine Connery also chipping in.
It sets up a quarter-final date with Lithuania on Thursday after the tournament hosts completed their group phase with three wins from three in this section of the Olympic qualifying process.
Mullan got the scoring underway on four minutes with a powerful backhand shot to the top corner after she was afforded a wealth of space in the circle.
Carroll got her first in the ninth minute, walking the ball home as the signs already began to look ominous for a big score.
Smyth then powered home for 3-0 before the end of the first quarter. From there, it was target practice with five more arriving before half time, some of them spectacular in their conception.
Carroll’s second was a collector’s item, shooting in off the underside of the crossbar, Evans tickled a Cliodhna Sargent corner sweep before Smyth got her second from a close range rebound.
Frazer cracked home the next before O’Flanagan got on the end of another corner move. Carroll completed her hat trick two minutes into the second half to make it 9-0 as the run continued while Smyth’s third closed out the victory with five minutes remaining.
It puts Ireland in good shape for their date with Lithuania on Thursday. Win that and they will have two shots at reaching the top three of the competition which means they will progress to World League 3 where the Olympic places are decided.
Darren Smith: “It was great for the girls to score a few goals and I thought we did some good things today. It was a good day.
“It keeps our form going into the crunch end of the tournament on Thursday which will be a tough game against Lithuania. From there, we play the winner of Ukraine and Belarus possibly on Saturday so there is two big games coming up. Hopefully, we can do a good job with the tail end of the tournament.”
Ireland: A McFerran, C Sargent, E Smyth, S McCay, M Frazer, A Connery, N Daly, H Matthews, K Mullan, A O’Flanagan, G Pinder
Subs: N Evans, N Carroll, C Watkins, L Colvin, K Dillon, A Meeke, E Gray
Turkey: S Guzeller, K Guzelal, C Baser, O Calayir, M Koksal, S Alpakan, A Esen, P Kucukkoc, L Ozturk, E Bahcivan, F Gultekin
Subs: P Yilmaz, S Ozdere, O Yaldiz, D Aksoy, E Iskender, M Oymal, S Turker
