The Indian men's hockey team expectedly beat Ireland despite a few defensive lapses to almost secure their passage into the quarter finals of the Paris Olympics, with skipper Harmanpreet Singh scoring a brace in the 2-0 win in a Pool B match here on Tuesday.

Unlike the previous two matches, India penetrated the rival circle consistently and dictated play in the first half. Considering that Ireland were the easiest of the opponents in this pool, the victory was expected.

India were, however, far from convincing in the second half, but the win has taken them to seven points from three matches while the defeat has ousted Ireland from the quarter-final race.

Belgium and Australia, both unbeaten, have six points each and they play against each other later in the day.

India just about managed to edge New Zealand 3-2 before holding Argentina to a 1-1 draw in their previous two outings. Harmanpreet had levelled the scores at the last minute in their previous match.

Most likely, Argentina and New Zealand will fight for the fourth spot in this Pool. The top four teams from each of the two pools qualify for the quarter finals.

Harmanpreet (13th and 19th minutes) struck once each in the first two quarters, while the second half remained goalless.

India earned their first penalty corner as early as the second minute of the match when Abhishek made a move from the left and passed the ball to Sukhjeet Singh.

However, the Harmanpreet strike was blocked by an Ireland on-rusher. Even on rebound, there was a chance, but Mandeep Singh lost possession. Harmanpreet created another chance by passing it to Sumit on the left flank but his reverse strike hit the post.

India did not have to wait long for their first goal. It came from a penalty stroke awarded to India in the 13th minute of the match. Gurjant intercepted the ball in between two Irish players and sent it towards Mandeep Singh.

A tackle by Shane O'Donoghue in front of the goalpost resulted in the umpire awarding the penalty stroke, which was converted by Harmanpreet.

The India captain doubled the lead by converting the fourth penalty corner during a period of domination in the second quarter. This was after Ireland defenders blocked two consecutive attempts.

Ireland got their first penalty corner of the match on a debatable call by the umpire. The Indians, who did not have a referral left, protested but it remained. India custodian PR Sreejesh blocked the shot to keep India's 2-0 lead intact.

Ireland earned two more penalty corners in the final quarter but lacked finishing.

In Pool A matches on Tuesday, Germany drubbed South Africa 5-1, Great Britain and Netherlands drew 2-2 whole France held Spain 3-3.