Chile 0, Ireland 3

Ireland did what it had to do today to keep its Olympic hopes alive with a 3-0 win against Chile. The win sets up a showdown with Malaysia on Saturday in a game that will determine at least one of the finalists at this Electric Ireland FIH Road to London Tournament.

It wasn’t Ireland’s strongest outing, considering it was a game against one of the lower-seeded teams at the event, but nevertheless, the Irish were never in danger of losing the three points against still-winless Chile. Ultimately Michael Watt’s two second half goals secured the victory for the host.

Ireland took the 1-0 lead when Timothy Cockram easily converted the first short corner of the game just six minutes into action. It proved to be the only highlight of an otherwise uneventful first half as Ireland had to settle for the slim lead at the break.

It took nearly 10 minutes for Ireland to build on its lead as Chile stacked the men in the circle and focused on defense. Finally, Watt fired in a shot from the top of the circle to double the Irish lead and give them their first convincing pad of the game. Watt’s second goal came with15 minutes left to give the Irish serious breathing room as Chile’s defense started to look worn down.

All teams have an off day tomorrow before play resumes on Saturday with some key match-ups. Ireland vs. Malaysia will highlight the day as at least one of the two teams will make it to Sunday’s final. The Koreans play Russia in hopes of securing their spot in the final game and winless Chile and Ukraine will duke it out for their first points of the event.