HOCKEY/Ireland 4 Poland 0:A breathtaking second-half performance saw Ireland beat Poland for the first time since 1996 and claim a place in the semi-finals of the Champions Challenge, in Quilmes, Argentina.

After a frustrating, scoreless first half, Mikey Watt set Ireland on their way and Conor Harte’s two penalty corners put a more accurate reflection on the scoreline. Shane O’Donoghue fired a low bullet for a little extra garnish.

The upshot is the threat of relegation from this high level of competition – the second tier in the world list – has been assuaged.

It also provides further justification for the supporter-funded trip after the Irish Hockey Association board had initially threatened to pull the plug.

But a five-day rally yielded €60,000 from the hockey community to force a U-turn. The players duly responded despite minimal preparation time for the competition under new coach Andrew Meredith and will, at worst, improve their pre-tournament ranking by two places.

The first half proved an irritating one, Arkadiusz Matuszak a brick wall in the face of a barrage, while his goalkeeping counterpart, David Harte, had little to do on his 100th cap.

But once the tap was turned on in the second half, it quickly became a deluge. Watt found space a to crash home a waist-high shot in the 44th minute.

It was the first of three goals in eight minutes, with Harte placing home perfectly from a penalty corner won by Chris Cargo.

Seeing as that method worked, when presented with the chance by Watt, Harte chose the same spot for 3-0.

Watt was again the creator of the fourth, laying up for O’Donoghue to close out the win with a shot on the turn.