Ireland, still unbeaten in this competition, wanted a win to secure their spot at the top of pool A without having to wait for the result of the last match between Austria and Chile. They were immediately all over the Italian circle and scored early by Eugene Magee, but failed at four penalty-corners and could not break further the disciplined Italian defense in the first quarter.

Same pattern prevailed in second quarter, with Ireland totally controlling play and Italy studiously defending. Ireland was definitively off-target on their penalty-corners and were kept at bay by Francesco Padovani having a strong afternoon in the Italian goal. They reached half-time with a meagre one-goal advantage to show for all their efforts and domination.

Ireland were not luckier in third quarter even though they camped nearly permanently in the Italian half. They scrambled another penalty-corner and their lead was still hanging on a single tiny thread after 45’ of play.

Ireland finally broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute by Shane O'Donoghue, penetrating aggressively in the circle and beating Padovani with a clinical low reverse shot.

Even though the result of the match was never in real question, the Irish will wonder about their lack of efficiency to substantiate their domination, especially on a large number of penalty-corners, while the surprising Italian team once again fulfilled their pre-tournament goal to be competitive in every game.