HOBART (Australia) Oct 10: England became the first to qualify for round two of field hockey’s Junior World Cup by defeating Ireland 1-0 and taking top spot in Pool A on Wednesday.

England sailed through thanks to a goal from Martin Jones in the 66th minute.

Elsewhere, Australia completely outclassed Chile 7-1 and need to win against England on Friday to be sure of progressing to the next round.

Pool B provided the upset of the day when France unexpectedly lost to South Africa 3-2.

The South Africans broke a 2-2 deadlock with a diving goal by Ian Haley with 17 seconds on the clock after the French had shown their superior technical skills during the match.

Also in Pool B, The Netherlands unexpectedly drew with South Korea 2-2, blowing a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes to go and allowing Korean captain Jong Ho Seo to score a diving deflection with three seconds on the clock.

In Pool D, Germany had its first match and played nervously for a 2-1 win against a spirited Argentina, while New Zealand snatched a 3-2 in the last seconds of an ill-tempered game against Malaysia.

Malaysian skipper Boon Huat Chua earned himself a one match suspension for inappropriate behaviour towards officials following the game after receiving a yellow card on the pitch.

Tournament director Peter Lathouwers also issued an official warning to the Malaysian manager, Ariffin Mohad Ghani, after he refused to sign the match sheet after the game.

No matches were played in Pool C on Wednesday.

Argentina takes on Malaysia in one of Thursday’s key matches, with both needing to win to stay in the tournament.

Collated results Wednesday:

Pool A

Australia 7 Chile 1

England 1 Ireland 0

Pool B

France 2 South Africa 3

South Korea 2 Netherlands 2

Pool D

Argentina 1 Germany 2

Malaysia 2 New Zealand 2 —AFP