Senior Women contest Pinatar Cup…16/02/2022

 


Our senior women took third place in the Pinatar Cup with a one nil victory over Wales in this afternoon’s play-off contest . An excellent strike from ‘Player of the Match’ Denise O’Sullivan on twenty five minutes settled the match. Head Coach Vera Pauw expressed delight with the performance of her charges throughout the three match competition. Ireland will next be in action when we travel to face Sweden in a daunting 2023 World Cup qualifier in April.

Team:
Courtney Brosnan; Niamh Fahey, Louise Quinn, Savannah McCarthy; Jessica Ziu, Ruesha Littlejohn, Denise O’Sullivan, Katie McCabe (c); Heather Payne, Kyra Carusa, Lucy Quinn
Substitutes
Abbie Larkin for Kyra Carusa 45′
Leanne Kiernan for Heather Payne 63′

Eve Badana for Courtney Brosnan 63′
Amber Barrett for Lucy Quinn 85′

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Our senior women went down to a one nil defeat by Russia in this evening’s semi-final of the Pinatar Cup. Manager Vera Pauw selected a completely new eleven starters for this evening’s contest. Ireland conceded a goal in the opening stages and looked very disjointed but after the opening twenty minutes we stabilised with Leanne Kiernan, twice and Amber Barrett going close.  Two changes were made at half-time and four more during the second period but we were unable to find the equaliser and will now contest the third place play-off on Tuesday. Debutant defender Chloe Mustaki was named ‘Player of the Match’.

Ireland will face Wales, who lost their semi-final to Belgium in a penalty shoot-out following a scoreless draw. in the third place play-off at 2.30pm on Tuesday afternoon in the Pinatar Arena.

Team:
Megan Walsh; Diane Caldwell(c), Claire Walsh, Chloe Mustaki ; Aine O’Gorman, Amber Barrett, Jamie Finn, Ellen Molloy, Isibeal Atkinson; Leanne Kiernan, Abbie Larkin
Substitutes:
Ruesha Littlejohn for Barrett 46′
Jessica Ziu for Atkinson 46′
Kyra Carusa for Larkin 65′
Denise O’Sullivan for Molloy 65′
Katie McCabe for O’Gorman 65′
Lucy Quinn for Kiernan 83′

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Our senior women recovered  from the concession of a goal from a penalty given for handball against centurion captain Niamh Fahey early in the second half to record  a two one victory over Poland in their opening Pinatar Cup contest in La Manga this afternoon. The equalising goal came on 52 minutes from Lucy Quinn and her namesake and Birmingham City colleague Louise Quinn powered home a header in the 75th minute for a deserved victory over the side ranked one place above Ireland on the FIFA rankings.

Ireland will face Russia. penalty shoot-out victors over Hungary, at 7.30pm (Irish Time) on Saturday evening in the semi-final stage.

Starting Eleven v Poland
Courtney Brosnan; Niamh Fahey(c), Louise Quinn, Savannah McCarthy; Heather Payne, Ruesha Littlejohn, Megan Connolly, Katie McCabe; Lucy Quinn, Kyra Carusa, Denise O’Sullivan
Substitutes
Jessica Ziu for Heather Payne 53′

Amber Barrett for Kyra Carusa 82′ 

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Senior Women’s Team Manager Vera Pauw has selected  a 27 player squad for the Pinatar Cup invitation tournament being played in Murcia, Spain. We are guaranteed three matches with the opening fixture against Poland in La Manga at 2.30pm (Irish Time) on Wednesday afternoon. Subsequent opponents will be dictated by the opening round results. The winners of our opening contest will play the winners of the contest between Hungary and Russia while the losing sides from the two opening matches will face each other in the second phase on Saturday the 19th February.

Niamh Fahey, a previous excellent club guest, is set to win her 100th senior cap in the opening match against Poland.

In a late change to the squad, Chloe Mustaki has been called up to replace the injured Niamh Farrelly.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Eve Badana(DLR Waves), Courtney Brosnan(Everton), Grace Moloney(Reading), Megan Walsh(Brighton & Hove Albion)

Defenders: Diane Caldwell(Manchester United), Megan Campbell(Liverpool), Niamh Fahey(Liverpool), Savannah McCarthy(Galway WFC), Aine O’Gorman(Peamount United), Louise Quinn(Birmingham City), Claire Walsh(Glasgow City), Chloe Mustaki(Shelbourne)

Midfielders: Isibeal Atkinson(Glasgow Celtic), Megan Connolly(Brighton & Hove Albion), Niamh Farrelly(Glasgow City), Jamie Finn(Birmingham City), Ciara Grant(Glasgow Rangers), Ruesha Littlejohn(Aston Villa), Katie McCabe(Arsenal), Ellen Molloy(Wexford WFC), Denise O’Sullivan(North Carolina Courage), Jessica Ziu(Shelbourne)

Forwards: Amber Barrett(FC Koln), Kyra Carusa(HB Hoge), Leanne Kiernan(Liverpool), Abbie Larkin(Shelbourne), Heather Payne(Florida State University), Lucy Quinn(Birmingham City)