Ireland Women 2-2 Germany Women
A goal in the final second of the game saw the Green Army denied a famous victory over the Olympic bronze medallists Germany in the World Hockey League in Johannesburg.
Zoe Wilson and Deirdre Duke struck for the Irish in the Pool A clash but Germany hit back twice, snatching a draw right at the death.
"I thought the girls executed the game-plan brilliantly and worked incredibly hard," head coach Graham Shaw said afterwards.
"They put a monumental effort in and made it very difficult for the Germans."
Ireland drew 1-1 with Japan in their opening game and have matches against Poland and England to come this week
It was Ireland who started the brighter with an early chance just escaping the outstretched reach of a diving Deirdre Duke following pin-point passing between Roisin Upton and Gillian Pinder.
Moments later Hannah Matthews sent another pass through the German midfield to find Emily Beatty free at the top of the circle but her shot fizzed wide.
Lisa Altenburg began to make her presence felt and spun around her marker only to send her strike past the post.
Germany didn’t take long to grow into the game as the second quarter began and racked up four penalty corners, but Ayeisha McFerran kept her goal intact.
The sides exchanged yellow cards early in the second half, a feisty encounter with five yellows being dished out in total, and Germany added two more PCs to their tally.
McFerran was in inspired form and despite the Irish defence being under somewhat constant pressure their structures looked organised and were frustrating the German forward line.
The Germans elected to remove their goalkeeper and enlist a kicking back as Upton received a yellow card.
The player advantage worked as Wortmann levelled the game with a tap-in from a PC routine in the 56th minute.
The monumental defensive effort continued for the Irish but in the 60th minute it looked like they had snatched a famous victory. Nicci Daly darted off on a signature run, drawing defenders as she went, before firing a pass into the circle where Anna O’Flanagan calmly tipped the ball into the path of Duke who fired home.
But the Germans won their 10th PC in the final second of the game and Nike Lorenz sent her drag just out of reach of McFerran, a somewhat controversial goal perhaps as it appeared the PC clock hadn’t reached zero and the Irish were still setting themselves.
However, a draw against a really fine side leaves the Irish with plenty of positives after their second game of World League.
The Green Army are next in action on Wednesday (12 July) against Poland at 1pm (Irish time), with the fixture to be shown live on BT Sport.
Ireland men’s hockey team continue their World League campaign tomorrow (5pm Irish time) against Belgium.
Ireland: A McFerran, N Evans, K Mullan (Captain), S McCay, E Tice, G Pinder, R Upton, N Daly, H Matthews, A O’Flanagan, Z Wilson
Subs: G O’Flanagan, Y O’Byrne, E Beatty, S Loughran, C Watkins, L Colvin, D Duke
Germany: N Lorenz, C Stapenhorst, J Muller-Wieland (Captain), N Heyn, J Teschke, L Altenburg, J Ciupka, F Hauke, C Pieper, M Mavers, H Granitzki
Subs: L Schneider, E Grave, T Martin Pelegrina, C Nobis, N Notman, A Wortmann, V Huse
