Belgium 4 Ireland 1:Having watched their male counterparts miss out on Olympic qualification by a matter of seconds recently, Gene Muller's women's side were determined not to suffer a similar fate in Belgium.
Their chance came against the hosts this afternoon and though the game followed a vastly different pattern the bottom line was the same in Kontich as it was for the men against Korea in UCD last week.
Ireland were unbeaten heading into the final and a 1-1 draw with Belgium in the final group game on Friday gave them genuine cause for optimism, but they were thoroughly beaten in the repeat this afternoon.
After a nervy start from both sides, it was Belgium who settled quicker and took the lead through the first of three first half goals from Sofie Gierts in the 13th minute when she controlled a high ball beautifully and fired low and hard into the Irish goal.
Five minutes later, she doubled the lead with a perfect penalty stroke and a short corner success had Ireland chasing shadows.
After the break, Ireland kept the damage to a minimum and struck back through top scorer Audrey O’Flynn when she finished a penalty corner in the 58th minute.
However, Belgium restored the three-goal lead almost immediately when Erica Coppey's shot from inside the D, beat Emma Smith in the Irish goal.