After reviving their hopes of qualifying for June’s World League semi-finals by beating hosts Spain on Saturday with an Audrey O’Flynn penalty stroke, a 1-0 defeat by Italy yesterday ended Ireland’s involvement in the series, the team finishing fourth out of five having gone in to the tournament as top seeds.

The World League semi-finals double as qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup so, short of winning the European Championships in August (fifth their highest ever finish in that event), Ireland’s hopes of making it in to that tournament have also ended.

Elisabetta Pacella’s goal, then, with 15 minutes to go yesterday, proved a hugely costly one for Ireland, the victory putting third seeds Italy top of the table, with Spain – who beat Belarus 5-3 in the final game in Valencia – advancing with them to the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, in the absence of six of their international team-mates, UCD inched closer to retaining their Leinster Division One title on Saturday when they moved a point clear of Railway Union.

The students drew with Hermes while Railway were beaten by Loreto, results that saw UCD go top with just two games to go – and their opponents in those fixtures are the bottom two, North Kildare and Trinity.