After such a bright opening to the tournament, when they won their first two pool games, Ireland are back in the more familiar territory of knowing that they must win their last two if their dreams of automatic qualification to next year's World Cup finals in Australia are to be realised.
Two desperately disappointing performances against England (0-2) in Abbeville on Saturday and France (0-1) in Amiens yesterday, not helped by simply appalling umpiring in the French game, means they must beat Kazakstan tomorrow and Ukraine on Wednesday if they are to finish in the top two in the pool.
Anything less will leave them needing to battle their way through the hazardous cross-over matches to secure qualification, a fate they are eager to avoid - largely because it is an obstacle they have habitually failed to hurdle in the past.
While nothing could disguise the fact that Ireland played poorly yesterday, in what was their first defeat by France since 1991, they were the victims of some bewildering umpiring, not least in the last five minutes when they were denied two blatant penalty strokes. A leading international umpire, watching from the stand, smiled and shook her head when asked for her verdict on the performance of the American and Chinese officials, adding that it was "beyond her" how those 'strokes' weren't given.
It was only after Peguy Bergere had given France the lead in the 56th minute, from a well executed penalty corner, that Ireland came alive, but they were also indebted to goalkeeper Tara Browne who kept them in the match with some outstanding saves.
By then Claire McMahon had been sent to the 'sin-bin' for 13 minutes after shaping up to to Bergere, whose response to the threat earned her a 10-minute 'rest' on the sidelines. It was one of the few decisions the umpires got right during the game.
However, while they are entitled to feel hard done-by, Ireland must be more concerned by their mediocre display against the French, one that mirrored much of Saturday's performance against England when their passing was dismal and failure to retain possession as poor.
Unless they improve markedly they will not win their final two pool games and could end up needing to beat Scotland or Lithuania if Perth is to be part of next year's travel plans.
After the French game coach Riet Kuper struggled to find the words to express her feelings about the umpiring, which was probably just as well. "I just don't understand why such inexperienced umpires were appointed for such a crucial game," she said, echoing the consensus that Jenny Burke and Claire McMahon had earned their team strokes after being upended in the circle in the closing minutes.
"Of course we didn't play well and failed to take our chances but we did enough in the last 15 minutes to get something from the game. It's probably better I say nothing more about the umpiring."
Goals from Purdy Miller (24th minute) and Rachel Walker (57) secured England a comfortable win on Saturday in a game they dominated from start to finish.
They missed a stroke nine minutes from time, when Jane Smith fired over the bar, but goalkeeper Carolyn Reid preserved their two-goal advantage three minutes later when she saved Jenny Burke's stroke.
IRELAND (v England and France): T Browne, L Caulfield, A Boyles, D Sixsmith, P Magill, J Orbinson, L Lee, R Kohler (capt), C McMahon, J Burke, L McVicker. Subs used v England: C McKean, J McDonough, K Humphreys, C O'Brien. Subs used v France: C McKean, J McDonough.
WORLD CUP QUALIFIER (at Amiens and Abbeville) - Pool A - Saturday: India 2, Ukraine 2; France 0, Kazakstan 0; Ireland 0, England 2 (P Miller, R Walker). Yesterday: Ukraine 4, Uruguay 1; Ireland 0, France 1 (P Bergere); England 2, India 1. Standings: 1, England (5) 15 pts; 2, Ukraine (5) 10 pts; 3, Ireland (4) 6 pts; 4, India (4) 4 pts; 5, Kazakstan (4) 4 pts; 6, France (4) 4 pts; 7, Uruguay (4) 0.
Pool B - Saturday: Japan 6, Malaysia 0; Lithuania 3, Canada 2; Scotland 4, Belgium 0.
TODAY - Pool B: Lithuania v Belgium, 9.30; Russia v Malaysia, 12.0; Japan v Scotland, 7.30.
