HOCKEY: It was the Irish team's greatest result of the Riet Kuper era. And yesterday's 1-1 draw with Germany at the Olympic Qualifying tournament in Auckland was partially fashioned by the legendary Muhammad Ali, Irish captain Lynsey McVicker revealed last night.
The Ballymoney player is, unlike most of her team-mates in the national squad, quite accustomed to triumph in the face of adversity at club level. The Co Antrim side earned promotion 12 years in succession before securing their place in the top flight of Ulster hockey. They enjoyed their finest hour in 2000 when they defeated mighty Pegasus to lift the Irish Senior Cup with a result that defied logic and historical precedent.
Yesterday's outcome against Germany, ranked eighth in the world, bore more than a passing similarity to those circumstances. Pre-match huddles are a familiar ritual and McVicker was not reluctant to share what was said as she proudly entered the media room with the Irish coach.
The 31-year-old spent three years on a hockey scholarship at the University of Maryland on the back of her displays at the 1994 World Cup at Belfield. There she studied sports physiology, and 10 years on it helped produce a rich dividend.
The game plan - as far as the pre-match team talk was concerned - was hatched in a hotel room shortly before the squad assembled for the short trip to the Lloyd Elsmore Stadium.
"I turned on the television to relax along with Suzanne (Beaney) and we sat down to watch a documentary about Muhammad Ali and it was that which provided the inspiration I needed. The theme in the huddle was 'fighting', and all the squad had also taking boxing lessons as part as our preparations back home to help us become more aggressive on the pitch," McVicker explained.
"I said to the girls we had to produce a battling display, up the work-rate and show a lot more guts than we had shown in the 5-1 defeat by New Zealand on Saturday, and it certainly seemed to work."
Ireland had the Germans on the ropes for much of the game, and with a little more punch up front might well have pulled off a sensational victory. The best chance of the early stages fell to McVicker's Ballymoney club-mate Nicky McCaughern in the 27th minute. She had been set up by the excellent Nikki Symmons but shot tamely, straight at the goalkeeper.
But Eimear Cregan fired Ireland ahead three minutes later from their third penalty corner, the ball taking a deflection off the foot of a defender guarding the left post before entering the net. The strangely lethargic Germans replied, though, in similar fashion when team captain Marion Rodewald equalised from a set-piece on the stroke of half-time.
Ireland refused to throw in the towel after the restart, and indeed continued where they had left off, harassing their opponents with some superb pressing from the front three and never allowing them to settle.
Jenny Burke was unfortunate to see her penalty-corner attempt flash narrowly wide in the 38th minute, and such was the level of dominance that Germany failed to get a shot on target from play over the course of the game. McVicker had a chance to make it a fairytale ending with nine minutes remaining, after Symmons had joined the attack, but she volleyed wide.
Ireland may have failed to deliver the knockout blow against one of the heavyweights of world hockey, but whoever they enter the ring with in Friday's first cross-over will certainly know they've been in a fight.
An unlikely combination of scorelines in the New Zealand v Germany and Ireland v Britain Pool A games (played in the early hours of this morning) could see Ireland finish second in the pool and, hence, qualify for the Olympics. Ireland, though, would need to beat Britain and also overturn a goal difference deficit of five on the Germans or eight on the hosts. The more likely outcome is that Ireland finish third or fourth in their pool, putting them through to the first of two cross-over matches against Japan, Korea or the US on Friday.
IRELAND: A Platt; K Maybin, N Symmons, C O'Brien, F Connery; L Caulfield, B McKeever, J Burke; J McDonough, E Cregan, L McVicker (capt) Subs: D Casey, N McCaughern, K Farrell.
RESULTS: Pool A: Ireland 1 (E Cregan), Germany 1; Britain 1, Ukraine 0. Pool B: Russia 0, USA 6; Spain 1 Japan 0.
Pool A
P W D L F A Pts
New Zealand 3 2 1 0 1 5 7
Germany 3 2 1 0 5 3 7
Britain 3 1 1 1 4 4 4
Ireland 3 1 1 1 3 6 4
Ukraine 4 0 0 4 3 7 0
Pool B
P W D L F A Pts
Spain 3 3 0 0 5 0 9
Japan 3 2 0 1 9 3 6
Korea 3 1 1 1 7 2 4
USA 3 1 1 1 8 4 4
Russia 4 0 0 4 1 21 0
Spain qualify for the Olympic Games.
