BERKSHIRE'S Helen Richardson-Walsh scored twice as Great Britain's women's hockey team defeated Argentina 3-2 in their Group B match on Wednesday to make it three wins out of three and seal their place in the quarter-finals.

The former Reading Hockey Club star had a great chance to complete her hat-trick but saw her penalty stroke saved.

Maidenhead-based Richardson-Walsh opened the scoring from a penalty corner after 23 minutes and two minutes later the experienced midfielder was on hand to deflect the ball home for her second.

Her former Reading team-mate Alex Danson smashed a shot just past the post before seeing East Grinstead's Sophie Bray extend GB's advantage in the 38th minute.

But the game was far from over as Argentina, ranked second in the world, hit back with two goals from Florencia Habif in the 41st and 43rd minutes.

The tension mounted in the final quarter with GB reduced to nine players after cards for Bray and Susannah Townsend.

They weathered the storm and then after a foul on Danson they had a glorious chance to make the game safe from the penalty spot. Helen Richardson-Walsh stepped up looking for her hat-trick, only to see her effort saved by goalkeeper Belen Succi.

Argentina pressed for the equaliser in this Group B match, but GB's excellent defensive work completed the job.

Richardson-Walsh said: "We’re really pleased to get the three points. Argentina are a really good team so we expected them to come back. We’re really pleased to get the job done in the end.

“Beating a team like them gives us confidence but I don’t think we’re firing on all cylinders. At the start we felt comfortable which is good but this tournament is tough (and) anything can happen in the quarter-finals but we’re building momentum and hopefully we can use it. We like playing in the rain, it felt like home.”