Ireland beat Wales in Euro semi-final

Ireland secured their spot in the 2009 EuroHockey Nations Trophy final and with that a guaranteed promotion back up to the Championship in 2011 when the beat hosts Wales 1-0 in Wrexham today.

One goal from Ireland's only penalty corner of the match was all that separated the two sides in what was a somewhat nervy performance from both teams, who were no doubt feeling the pressure to secure a coveted spot in the final.

The game opened with both sides looking eager to attack, but it was the Welsh who dominated the early exchanges, gaining two consecutive penalty corners in the tenth minute and a third in the 15th, but a solid Irish defence and David Harte in goals was enough to ward off any threat.

Ireland's best chance of the game came in the 20th minute when John Jackson displayed silky skills as he weaved past three defenders into the circle before he was met with a bad tackle, which was enough to secure Ireland their only penalty corner of the game.

Stephen Butler was on hand to score his drag effort to put Ireland 1-0 ahead, with his 76th goal for his country.

Wales continued to create chances but as they neared the scoring zones the hosts appeared to run out of ideas on how to get past the Irish defence and, in particular, Lewis, Butler and Jackson.

The second half continued with almost no chances for either side until the 68th minute when Wales earned their fourth penalty corner of the game, gifting them an opportunity to push the game into extra-time, but the drag flicker miscued his shot, pushing the ball high above the bar.

Coach Paul Revington was not only delighted to be in the final but very proud of his side's performance.

He said: 'Obviously we are delighted to be in the final. There was always a risk with the Champions Challenge II and this tournament being so close together that we would peak for one and not the other. We have managed to reach the final of both these major tournaments and hopefully we will go one better this time (Saturday final).

'This group can be very proud, the last six weeks has physically been a huge ask (Celtic Cup; Champs Challenge; EuroHockey Trophy), this was a super team effort and both the management team and I are very proud of the team today.'

Ireland will now face either Russia or the Czech Republic in Saturday's final at 5pm.

Ireland: David Harte, John Jackson, Ronan Gormley (C), Stephen Butler, Joe Brennan, John Jermyn, Eugene Magee, Graham Shaw, Tim Cockram, Alan Sotherern, Tim Lewis.

Reserves: Conor Harte, David Hobbs, Peter Caruth, Geoff McCabe, Mitch Darling.