Hockey - England knocks Ireland out of World Cup with 4-2 victory

Reuters - British field hockey team captain Phil Roper on Friday (December 07), whose team crushed Ireland and entered in the quarterfinals, said his team stuck to their game plan and executed it well throughout the match. Roper lauded his team's performance during a post-match news conference in eastern India's Bhubaneswar city of Odisha state after England crushed Ireland 4-2. From the beginning of the first quarter, England had already taken the lead with David Condon's goal, before the goalless second quarter. The third quarter witnessed three goals during which Ireland equalized the score before Liam Ansell struck another goal and placed his team in the leading position by a 3-2 score. Paul Gleghorne's late goal in the fourth quarter sealed Ireland's fate in the World Cup. Meanwhile, Irish field hockey team coach, Alexander Cox backed his team's performance saying that 'they gave their whole'. Cox further said that his team had enough chances but they failed to cash them out like British. With now England in crossovers from Pool B, it is scheduled to play with New Zealand for the chance to play against Argentina in the quarter-finals.