GARETH Furlong scored four goals as Wales romped to a 9-0 win over hosts Croatia to seal second place in the Hockey Series Open and qualify for the Hockey Open Series finals

Ben Francis and Owain Dolan-Gray also scored braces and Rhys Bradshaw added the ninth as Wales eased into the next round in 2019.

Wales started strongly and were 3-0 up at the end of the first quarter courtesy of Furlong, Dolan-Gray and Francis.

A second goal from a penalty corner from Furlong saw Wales take a comfortable 4-0 score line into half-time.

Despite a flurry of cards dished out by the umpire for both sides, Wales continued to stretch their lead in the third quarter.

Furlong was the provider for Wales’ fifth score, setting up Dolan-Gray for his second of the night before Furlong’s third and fourth of the evening took the defender to nine goals for the tournament.

The final quarter saw Francis bag his sixth goal of the week, before 17-year-old forward Bradshaw scored Wales’ ninth of the game with an excellent deflected effort.

Wales had previously beaten Slovakia 6-1 and Switzerland 7-1 in Croatia, with a 3-0 defeat to Austria sandwiched in-between.

Reflecting on the team’s performance during the tournament, head coach, Zak Jones said: “As a squad, we are delighted to have qualified for the next round.

“We were all a little frustrated with different aspects of our performances in the first two games but we demonstrated the quality we have in the squad by producing two very good performances when we needed them most.

“It has been a really long season and international block, so this tournament was never going to be easy, physically or mentally, especially coming so close off the back of the Commonwealth Games.

“I am really proud of the squad for showing such resilience and character under pressure.

“The athletes can now enjoy a months respite before we continue our preparations towards next year’s European Championships.”