Johnson - 'There was an element of right place, right time and I forgot about any distractions'

When Ben Walker injured his hamstring in a training game before their opening group game, Green Machine reserve Ben Johnson was first alerted last Thursday.

LATE CALL UP: Ireland’s Ben Johnson after scoring a goal. Pic: ©INPHO/Frank Uijlenbroek

Five seasons ago, Ben Johnson netted the winner in the All Ireland Schools final with relative newcomers Newtown. Today, he will line up in the biggest game of his senior career against Spain in the FIH Olympic qualifiers after a late tournament call-up and two goals in three games. “It’s been a mad week,” he said yesterday.

When Ben Walker injured his hamstring in a training game before their opening group game, Green Machine reserve Johnson was first alerted last Thursday. After Walker failed a fitness test, Johnson flew out to Valencia and made his 19th cap less than 48 hours later.

Free of pre-tournament nerves, he then scored in Ireland’s victory over Ukraine. “I just got stuck in,” said the 23-year-old. “There was an element of right place, right time and I forgot about any distractions. But I knew I had a role to deliver for the team.” 

“Traditionally we are good defensively. If we build on that the rest of our team will be strong. [Against Japan to qualify] It was a reflection of the team’s ability to grind out the result we needed.” 

Johnson says that the last four seasons have been a “whirlwind”, which has included two knee operations and missing out on EuroHockey Championships.

Yet, his hockey blossomed during the pandemic period and was called up by coach Mark Tumilty in June 2022. Scoring this week against Olympic champions Belgium, he said, was his career highlight to date “but the biggest test is yet to come” against Spain.

Such is his rapid rise, his school exploits are still fresh in the memory, with Johnson playing a leading part in Newtown’s recent trophy success.

His former school only entered for the first time in 2015, with Johnson scoring the winner in the 2018 final, with Johnson crediting coach Stuart Greene for his school rise. “The All Ireland Schools really put me on the map,” he added.

A product also of Waterford Hockey Club - “a special place”, says Johnson - his father also played Ireland under 16 level and grandfather for the under-18s. “It’s in my blood I suppose to be playing at this level,” said Johnson.

Spain have won their last six meetings and are unbeaten in 10 matches overall against Ireland. Their last win came in 2017, but fellow forward Johnny McKee believes the hosts are beatable.

“We are edging closer to them,” he said. “We will go in as underdogs, we’re on away soil but we can give them a lot of problems and punish them on the counter.” 

Ireland have been in fine form in defence during the group stages. They conceded three times in their three matches and kept Japan at bay to reach today’s semi-finals.

McKee added: “We don’t want to rely on them as much as we did, however we have that in the back pocket and are tough to break down.

“Our defence can be the best team here but we know we can do a lot more with the ball to progress in the competition.”