Ireland enter new era with win over Northern Ireland in front of 35,994 fans at the Aviva
Denise O'Sullivan of Republic of Ireland in action against Demi Vance of Northern Ireland. Picture: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
THE Republic of Ireland women’s national team marked their first-ever game at the Aviva Stadium with a 3-0 victory over Northern Ireland in the UEFA Nations League.
There was plenty of Cork involvement, with Denise O’Sullivan and Megan Connolly named in the starting XI. Éabha O'Mahony was on the bench alongside Lily Agg, who declared for Ireland through her family from Cobh.
35,994 people were in attendance for the on-the-pitch World Cup homecoming and they saw goals from Lucy Quinn, Kyra Carusa, and Agg give the team a win that puts them on top of Group B1.
Before all of that, the players had to adjust to their new surroundings and they did so while dealing with an early Northern Ireland chance from a free-kick. Rachel Furness managed to get a head to this and Courtney Brosnan reacted to catch the ball in the second minute.
Once Ireland settled, O’Sullivan set up Carusa inside the area and her shot was blocked. Even though nothing came out of that, it was a clear sign that the group was starting to click.
O’Sullivan won Ireland the first corner of the game and Katie McCabe’s set piece was headed on by Caitlin Hayes. Carusa tried to turn this in and she was denied by Shannon Turner, with the goalkeeper making a reactionary save to keep the game scoreless.
A cross from McCabe was put out for another corner in the 29th minute and another set piece of its kind was given when a Hayes header was palmed out of play. Furness cleared this to Lucy Quinn and her shot from outside the area was turned in via a deflection as the clock signalled that half an hour had been played.
Ireland almost doubled that lead at the end of the first half through a McCabe cross that O’Sullivan broke down for Carusa. The striker laid this off for Lucy Quinn and her shot got blocked on the goal-line by a scrambling Northern Ireland defence.
Things slowed down after that, something that would continue until Abbie Larkin replaced Heather Payne in the 59th minute.
The change added a new sense of energy into the Ireland forward line, and it almost paid off when Lucy Quinn went down inside the area. The referee waved on any penalty appeal, and the team went back to passing the ball around while looking for gaps in the Northern Ireland defence.
A mix-up at the back between Turner and Rebecca Holloway led to Carusa seeing an open goal in the 70th minute. The striker took her time before finishing into an empty net, and that made it 2-0 to Ireland.
That more or less wrapped up the win; but the performance was polished in the 82nd minute when Agg turned in a corner with her first touch after replacing Connolly.
An Ireland free-kick ended the game, and this was headed away by Northern Ireland in the fourth minute of time added on.
Courtney Brosnan; Caitlin Hayes, Louise Quinn, Diane Caldwell, Katie McCabe, Tyler Toland, Megan Connolly, Denise O’Sullivan, Heather Payne, Kyra Carusa, Lucy Quinn.
Abbie Larkin for Payne (59); Lily Agg for Connolly (82), Amber Barrett for Lucy Quinn (82), Emily Whelan for Carusa (88), Izzy Atkinson for Caldwell (88).
Shannon Turner; Demi Vance, Sarah McFadden, Abbie Magee, Rebecca Holloway, Marissa Callaghan, Joely Andrews, Rachel Burness, Caragh Hamilton, Simone Magill, Emily Wilson.
Nadene Caldwell for Callaghan (72); Lauren Wade for Wilson (72), Laura Rafferty for Holloway (81), Chloe McCarron for Furness (81).
Hristiyana Guteva (Bulgaria)
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