First quarter-final of this World League R2 pitted Ireland, unbeaten winner of Pool A, to Trinidad & Tobago, still in quest of a positive result in this competition. Before the match, Trinidadian Kwan Browne was honored for his 300h International Cap, an outstanding achievement in international hockey.

It did not take long for Ireland to stake their claim on the qualification for the semi-finals, with Stephen Dowds at the conclusion of a swift movement in the first minute of play. They added promptly a second goal by their captain John Jackson in the 7th minute, but Trinidad & Tobago, boosted by the arrival of the warm Californian sun and harangued by Kwan Browne, reacted well and forced a penalty-corner, scored by Browne recovering well from a mistrapped ball to celebrate in style his milestone Cap achievement.

Browne, in fine form, added another penalty-corner in the initial minute of second quarter and the teams were back square. Ireland might have been a little surprised by this come-back but maintained their pressure and regained the lead in the 19th minute by Paul Gleghorne, making the best of a bobbled penalty-corner with an innocuous shot that somehow escaped the defender on the line.

The match was certainly not a one-way affair at that point, with Trinidad & Tobago dangerous on swift counter-attacks. Ireland had a more structured approach and added their fourth goal by Peter Caruth, well positioned on the far post to deflect a cross after a decisive back line progression by Michael Watt. They reached half-time of this lively match with a two-goal cushion (4-2).

Trinidad were all over the Irish circle early in second half and earned a penalty-corner, but Kwan was denied this time. It acted as a wake-up call for Ireland and they forced a penalty-corner of their own on the next action, deflected just in front of goal-keeper Andrey Rocke by Shane O'Donoghue for the fifth Irish goal and a 3-goal lead. Conor Harte added another penalty-corner in the 40th minute and the match looked as well as folded, with a seemingly unsurmountable 4-goal lead.

With Trinidad & Tobago fading in the final stages of the match, as was the trend since the beginning of the competition, Ireland added two more goals in third quarter (8-2), then four in fourth quarter for a final score of 12-2. They cruised into semi-finals where they will face the winner of the quarter-final between Canada and Italy.