Ireland 7-4 Malaysia
The Ireland's men team returned to winning ways after a goal-laden 7-4 win over Malaysia in Wavre.
While Mark Tumilty’s side saw their World Cup dreams come to an end after Thursday’s 3-1 loss to Spain, they will still be hoping for a high finish in the classification series.
That begins with another pool stage - a game with France on Sunday still to come - and another win would secure them a spot in the ninth/tenth play-off round and a guaranteed best World Cup finish.
Ireland took out the frustration of their loss to Spain on their opponents with four unanswered goals in the opening 25 minutes.
It took them less than ten minutes to open the scoring, Jonny Lynch firing in a reverse stick shot at the near post, before the Lisnagarvey man added a second after touching in a Jeremy Duncan delivery at the back post.
Ireland continued to cruise, Louis Rowe driving through the centre of the pitch and beating two before finding Matthew Nelson who fired into the net before Lynch completed his hat-trick mere minutes later to give Ireland a commanding 4-0 lead.
Malaysia clawed a goal back just before half-time through Azimuddin Kamaruddin, a moment that seemed to be the catalyst for a chaotic third quarter.
Malaysia grabbed a second early in the second half from Amirul Azahar to make it a two-score game, but Ireland cancelled it out when Johnny McKee touched in a penalty corner variation.
The sides traded blows in the minutes that followed, Nelson finishing off an exquisite attacking move before Malaysia bundled in their third, once again from a penalty corner with Abu Kamal Azrai the scorer this time.
Ireland’s Ben Walker got in on the act striking low and hard into the net after an Irish penalty corner broke down, but it was Malaysia who got the last of the goals, Faizal Saari bundling in a fourth after a good Jaime Carr save.
"The most important thing today was to get the win," player of the match Lynch said.
"After a disappointing loss yesterday where we gave a lot, it was impressive to see the team bounce back and get the win."
"Malaysia are a good outfit; they are physical, fast and they like to counter-attack," he added.
"I think there are a few things we need to tighten up, but overall I am proud of the guys. Some lovely goals going forward and some lovely connections up top."
