The challenge was of the mountainous variety: to advance in this World Cup, Ireland’s women had to beat Belgium on their own turf in Wavre in front of a crowd of several thousand at the Belfius Hockey Arena on Thursday evening. It proved to be too big of an ask, but Gareth Grundie’s players produced the gutsiest of efforts, leading with 12 minutes to go until the world’s third-ranked side finally broke their resilience.
It was familiar turf too for so many of these Irish players, Belgium the chief beneficiary of Irish hockey’s “brain drain” the last few years – 10 of Ireland’s squad played semi-professionally with clubs there last season.
Perhaps familiarity bred some level of confidence, if not contempt. From the off, Ireland put paid to any notion that they would opt to defend deep, hope to cling on and catch Belgium on the break. Instead they began brightly and aggressively, taking the game to their hosts. And they had a handsome reward for that approach in the 13th minute when, from their third penalty corner, Charlotte Beggs scored her first senior international goal.
From the first of the three, Niamh Carey had a goal disallowed, another corner awarded instead, and from the third, Beggs – one of the 10 who plays her hockey in Belgium – tapped the ball home after Hannah McLoughlin’s strike was deflected in to the air.
It was an immense effort from Ireland, their defending especially valiant, Michelle Carey and Róisín Upton producing miraculous blocks on Belgian goal-bound efforts early in the second quarter.
Charlotte Beggs of Ireland celebrates a goal that was later cancelled. Photograph:: Olivier Hoslet/EPA
And soon after, from the first of three penalty corners they earned in the quarter, Ireland were awarded a stroke – only for it to be overturned on review. By then, though, Belgium were well and truly rattled.
The stress was visible on their faces in the third quarter, a vastly experienced squad, 10 of their players with over 100 caps, left snatching at chances, misplacing passes and barking at each other in frustration. They squandered two penalty corners in the third quarter, Ireland holding out.
But the dam burst 12 minutes from time when Emma Puvrez played a free in to the circle. It fell to Charlotte Englebert who swivelled and fired it in to the bottom left corner.
It was, then, caution-to-the-wind time for Ireland, but Belgium’s tails were finally up, and with just 45 seconds to go, Ambre Ballenghien gave them the win that saw them top the group ahead of Spain.
The best Ireland can hope for now is a ninth-place finish in the tournament, which would equal their current world ranking. They carry their group win over New Zealand in to a new pool completed by the United States and Scotland – they play Scotland in Wavre on Saturday and the States in the same venue on Monday.
If they can come out top of that pile, they’ll play off for ninth next Thursday.
Ireland: E Murphy; E Curran, R Upton, H McLoughlin, S McAuley; C Beggs, S Hawkshaw, M Jennings; N Carey, K Mullan, A Utri. Subs: H Micklem, M Carey, L Neill, C Perdue, C Hamill, M Power, E Kealy.