Women's Hockey World Cup: Ireland beat South Africa to secure first win of the tournament
- Published
Ireland will now face either Chile or China for ninth place on Tuesday
Ireland finally secured their first win at the World Cup as they deservedly beat South Africa 2-0 in Amsterdam.
Sarah Hawkshaw and Roisin Upton scored the goals that guaranteed Ireland will finish the tournament higher than their current world ranking of 13th.
Victory over South Africa comes after a disappointing showing in the pool stage in which they suffered defeats by the Netherlands, Germany and Chile.
Ireland will now face either Chile or China for ninth place on Tuesday.
Not for the first time this week, Ireland dominated early territory and possession but couldn't find the breakthrough.
Katie Mullan set up Zara Malseed but her effort was saved by Phumelela Mbande and after some really nice approach play involving Sarah Torrans and Charlotte Beggs the final shot from a tight angle by Deirdre Duke was easily turned aside by Mbande.
Malseed was warming to the game and from a strong run she won a penalty corner early in the second quarter.
From Katie McKee's injection, Hannah McLoughlin found a diving Sarah Hawkshaw at the side of the net and she deflected the ball over the line to give Ireland the lead they deserved.
They could have been further ahead by half time. From another penalty corner variation Torrans hit the outside of the post while Roisin Upton found the back of the net only for her effort to be ruled too high and therefore dangerous.
But the Limerick player wouldn't be denied 25 seconds into the third quarter. Twelve months ago against the same opposition in the opening game of the Tokyo Olympics, Upton made history by scoring Ireland's first ever goal at an Olympics.
This may not live as long in the memory but she did it again, into the same corner in a carbon copy of that famous moment.
South Africa came with a later flourish at the end but it was nowhere near enough and Ireland now have an opportunity to finish the World Cup on a high note.