It wasn't gold and it clearly wasn't their best showing but justice prevailed somewhat Thursday for the Canadian women's soccer team and Coquitlam's Brittany Timko at the London 2012 Olympics.
Out-shot by a staggering 25-2 margin after 90 minutes of regulation play and with France having struck both a goalpost and the crossbar, Canada posted a thrilling 1-0 bronze-medal triumph on a Diana Matheson goal against the run of the play and into a gaping net on a deflection off an opposition defender and on to Matheson's boot nearly two minutes into stoppage time.
The result came after Canada dropped a heart-breaking 4-3 semifinal defeat in overtime Monday to the U.S. in a game marred by referee controversy.
"I'm so proud of this team," Canadian star striker Christine Sinclair told CTV News after. "We battled through exhaustion and we came out on top today."
A reserve player during the Olympics, the 26-year-old Timko was brought in by head coach John Herdman in the 77th minute to replace high-scoring Canadian forward Melissa Tancredi and was on the pitch for the winning marker.
The bronze victory marked the first time Canada has won a medal in a traditional team sport since 1936, when its men's basketball team captured silver in Berlin.
It was also sweet revenge for the Canadian women, who were ousted from the 2011 World Cup in Germany after being blitzed 4-0 by France.
