We’re in a World Cup semi-final!
THE Girls in Green are marching into the semi-final of the Hockey World Cup after keeping their nerve in a tense shoot-out with India.
There were jubilant scenes around London’s Lee Valley stadium as a sea of Irish fans celebrated the women’s team’s progression into a semi-final clash against Spain tomorrow.
Chloe Watkins secured our spot in the semis with the winning stroke and ran straight towards the stands in celebration, her team-mates streaming behind her leaping in the air.
Ireland – the tournament’s second lowest ranked team – battled out a tense 0-0 draw before winning the shoot-out 3-1, courtesy of strikes from Róisín Upton, Alison Meeke and Watkins.
The triumphant scenes were briefly interrupted when India queried whether Watkins’s shot had crossed the line within the allocated eight second timeframe. But the celebrations recommenced after the TV match official confirmed it was a goal with just 0.5 seconds left on the clock.
Manager Graham Shaw could be seen hugging his players on the pitch and fellow coaching staff, as he enjoyed what is surely the pinnacle moment in his coaching career to date.
In the final of Ireland’s five shots Watkins pulled the keeper to her left, opening up space on the right allowing for a strong open stick push deep into the belly of the goal.
In her post-match interview the 26-year-old Dublin woman was quick to switch praise to goalie Ayeisha McFerran, who has had a
‘I knew what I was going to do’
stellar tournament. ‘We knew we have the best keeper in the game,’ Watkins remarked proudly. She said the team had ‘all faith’ in McFerran who just ‘kept blocking, blocking when it came down to it’. ‘We’ve practised them and I just knew what I was going to do and thankfully it came off,’ Watkins said modestly.
The midfielder described the quarter-final clash as ‘quite a tight game’. She added that her team ‘just stuck at it’ and were confident going into the unenviable stand-offs between goalie and player.
The Irish women qualified top of their group after beating the US and India sending them directly into the quarter-final against their pool mate who secured their spot in the play-offs.
The Irish team will now face Spain in the World Cup semi-final tomorrow, where a win would see them progress to the final on Sunday.
A loss would mean they would do battle for bronze.