Adriana Leon plays the hero as Canada completes comeback to defeat Ireland at Women's World Cup

Canada survived an early Katie McCabe wonder goal Wednesday, climbing out of a deep hole to defeat Ireland 2-1 and boost its hopes of advancing at the FIFA Women's World Cup.

The Canadians seemed dead and buried for most of the first half after McCabe scored directly off a corner in the fourth minute. The Irish had their tails up and Olympic champion Canada looked shell-shocked.

WATCH: Soccer North live post-game show:

Watch Soccer North live at 10:30 am ET on cbcsports.ca and the CBC Sports YouTube Channel for post-match analysis of Canada vs. Ireland with Andi Petrillo and Diana Matheson.

But a Megan Connelly own goal in first-half stoppage time and 53rd-minute strike by Adriana Leon turned the tables.

Tied 1-1 after a first half dominated by Ireland, Canada coach Bev Priestman sent in the cavalry to start the second half. She brought on Christine Sinclair, Sophie Schmidt and Shelina Zadorsky with Sinclair becoming the tip of the Canadian spear, leading the attack.

The trio arrived with a combined 635 caps under their belts.

The changes produced an immediate effect with Sinclair finding Jordyn Huitema at the edge of the box. Huitema swivelled and hammered a shot on target, forcing to make a superb diving save from goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan.

Schmidt then unlocked the Irish defence with a perfect pass to Leon in the Irish penalty box. Leon sliced between two defenders and poked the ball past Brosnan.

The Canadians looked like a different team in an entertaining, wide-open second half. Ireland pressed in the final minutes but Canada held firm

With four points from two games, seventh-ranked Canada now faces No. 10 Australia in its final group game Monday in Melbourne with top spot in Group B likely at stake. The