Aine Connery scores winner as Ireland make quarter-finals

Ireland 3 Uruguay 2

Ireland's women booked a place in the quarter-finals of World League Round 3 in Valencia on Saturday afternoon as Aine Connery's 55th minute winner saw off a resurgent Uruguay.

Ireland qualify with a game to spare – against USA on Tuesday – with the winners of the quarter-final earning a spot at next summer’s Olympics.

Although far from their best, Ireland went into a 2-0 lead over the tournament’s lowest ranked at the start of the second half.

The first was a fine team affair involving Emma Smyth, Kate Dillon and Nikki Evans before Anna O'Flanagan finished.

Evans made it 2-0 on 36 minutes from a wonderful Chloe Watkins diagonal cross to put Ireland in control.

Ireland's indiscipline – they ended with four yellow and two green cards, totalling 24 minutes of sin-binnings – helped Uruguay gain a foothold, with Janine Stanley scoring her side's first goal of the tournament before Manuela Vilar dragged home a penalty corner in the 44th minute to level the game.

Ireland regrouped with a solid final quarter, winning a couple of penalty corners, the second of which saw Cliodhna Sargent sweep to Connery to fire home.

IRELAND: E Gray, C Sargent, E Smyth, N Evans, K Mullan, S McCay, M Frazer, L Colvin, N Daly, H Matthews, A O'Flanagan.

Subs: Y O'Byrne, G Pinder, A Connery, C Watkins, K Dillon, A Meeke, A McFerran