Sargent drills winner to lift Muller spirits

IRELAND breathed a sigh of relief last night after they ground out a 1-0 victory over Azerbaijan at a drenched UCD to ensure they will earn a chance to grab fifth place in the Champions Challenge I.

Seeded seventh of the eight sides coming into the competition, a superb showing in the pool stages — where they went unbeaten against higher-ranked sides India, Spain and Azerbaijan — looked set to count for nought as the USA dumped them out at the quarter-final stage on Thursday.

Prior to the tournament, Ireland coach Gene Muller had lamented the bizarre structure that saw all eight teams advance to a quarter-final stage irrespective of pool results.