​Ireland’s Sean Murray in action against Spain on Thursday [Getty Images]Two fourth-quarter goals from Spanish forward Marc Reyne were enough to end Ireland’s hopes of a top-eight finish at the World Cup as Mark Tumilty’s side fell to a 3-1 defeat.Needing a draw to make it through to the upper end of the crossover phase of the tournament, Ireland were more than holding their own after 45 minutes against opponents ranked sixth in the world.After Spain had taken the lead through Nicolas Alvarez, the Irish dominated the second quarter and deservedly equalised when Lee Cole converted a penalty stroke.Defensively solid, Ireland were 15 minutes away from pulling off the first major upset of the World Cup.However, Reyne had other ideas, pouncing on a corner rebound and then producing a superb finish on the reverse stick to give the Spanish a 3-1 win.“It’s a missed opportunity,” said Irish midfielder Sean Murray after the game. “We said before the tournament, we wanted to be top two in our group and push to be in that top eight of the world.“Unfortunately, it’s not to be. We gave it our all and fell short to a really top Spain side.”Ireland will reflect on a first half against Australia in their opening game when they afforded too much respect to the opposition and trailed 3-0 before fighting back in the second half, losing 3-1 but with chances to draw.They defeated South Africa 4-1 in a keenly fought encounter to set up the game against Spain.The African champions held Australia to a 2-2 draw in their final game and showed how vulnerable they were, but that will only have meant more frustration for Ireland.With the game against Spain in the balance heading into the final quarter, Murray explained that he believes their rivals went up a gear in the closing stages.“I think they really came out and stepped hard on us and lifted the energy maybe into that last quarter. They’re a top side and they moved us around all game as well,” added Murray.“When they’re on the ball, they have quality players, and I think maybe just towards the end it showed. But yeah, it’s in the details.“We gave it our all. The progress we’ve made in the last six months has been huge. We just have to keep pushing to get to that next level.”Still plenty to play for in classification roundIreland and South Africa now join France and Malaysia in one of two pools playing for ninth to 16th place.The Irish have an early advantage, carrying over three points from the win over South Africa while France and Malaysia drew 3-3 and so have one point each.Ireland face Malaysia on Friday and France on Sunday.No Irish men’s side have ever finished higher than 12th in a World Cup – and there are big world ranking points to play for, as well as making sure they are one of the top six European teams in the world rankings at the end of the tournament, to ensure they are seeded at next summer’s European Championship in London.“There’s so much still on the line for us. We can