"My word, that's a first," remarked the bemused English hockey reporter as he watched the Irish contingent in the Magamba Stadium hugging and kissing and dancing and whooping after England had scored against Japan yesterday. "Don't worry, normal service will resume after tonight - but thanks for keeping us in the tournament," he was told. "Still alive, not quite dead," was Irish coach Terry Gregg's summing up of a nerve-wracking, stomach-churning evening for his team who, in their match against Canada earlier in the afternoon, were within two minutes of their fourth successive defeat.
How Ireland salvaged a 1-1 draw from their match only a higher power could ever know. In what was their worst performance of the tournament to date, they were indebted to an heroic performance in goal by Alison Vance and finishing almost as poor as their own.
Canada won seven short corners in the first half to Ireland's none - in fact the Canadian goalkeeper could have had a nap for the first 40 minutes of the match, she wasn't troubled once.
Without the injured Caroline Craig and handicapped by the presence in the line-up of several players suffering from stomach bugs, Ireland resembled a poor club team. Luckily for them Canada, who came to Zimbabwe with high hopes of a top six place, weren't much better.
After producing a string of brilliant saves in the first half Vance was finally beaten in the 45th minute when Amy MacFarlane followed up Vance's save from Gillian Sewell to score.
With Ireland needing at least a draw to have any chance of finishing fourth in their pool, Gregg changed his formation to 3-4-3 in an attempt to steal an undeserved equaliser. Six short Irish corners followed and it was from the last, two minutes from time, that Turner turned home Carol Devine's cross from the left.
"Suddenly the pressure of shame is gone," said a relieved Gregg at full time, before taking his place in the stand to watch the England versus Japan game. A victory for the Japanese would have ended Ireland's World Cup qualifying hopes; a draw would keep them alive.
The pulse all but disappeared in the 14th minute when Akemi Kato put the Japanese one up. Then, 11 minutes from time, they were awarded a penalty stroke which Denise Marston-Smith appeared to completely mis-hit but the ball miraculously dribbled in to the net.
Final whistle at 1-1 eight hours later (well, it felt like that long) and calculators out. For a chance of a spot in the 5th-8th place playoff, Ireland must finish fourth in their pool; for that to happen Canada must do no better than draw against India today and Ireland must then beat Japan tomorrow.
Ireland: A Vance, K Humphreys, J Stewart, A Thompson, M O'Sullivan, R Kohler, S Kelleher, J Turner (capt), C Devine, M Logue, J Burke. Subs: L McVicker, C McMahon, C O'Kelly.
Canada: S Forbes, D Anderson, C Hunter, N Colaco (capt), C Thomson, G Sewell, K MacNeill, L Kopeck, A MacFarlane, C Somerville, S Armstrong. Subs: L Faust, A Grimes, V Planella, S Tingley.
Umpires: A Dale (Zimbabwe), M Arnold (Australia).
Results - Pool A: South Africa 3 (P Coetzee 3), India 0; Ireland 1 (J Turner), Canada 1 (A MacFarlane); Japan 1 (A Kato), England 1 (D Martson-Smith, 59).
Remaining fixtures (Irish times) - Today: England v South Africa, 5.0; India v Canada, 7.0. Tomorrow: Ireland v Japan, 1.0.
