Our senior women, under the guidance of Head Coach Colin Bell, went down to a two one defeat by hosts Italy in a friendly international played in Reggio Emilia this afternoon. Ireland stunned their hosts with the opening goal after just three minutes which was scored by captain Katie McCabe of Arsenal. Italy, who are preparing for the FIFA World Cup Finals set for France in June, equalised after forty minutes and then took the lead eight minutes into the second half. Ireland did have some opportunities to equalise but their finishing lacked the necessary accuracy and composure. This nevertheless was an instructive outing and should prove useful as we prepare for the commencement of our 2021 European Championship qualifying campaign against Montenegro on Tuesday the 3rd September 2019 in Tallaght.
Team: Marie Hourihan (Brighton & Hove Albion); Claire O’Riordan (MSV Duisburg), Louise Quinn (Arsenal), Megan Campbell (Manchester City), Harriet Scott (Birmingham City); Megan Connolly (Brighton & Hove Albion), Niamh Fahey (Liverpool), Tyler Toland (Kildrum Tigers): Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Leanne Kiernan (West Ham United), Katie McCabe (Arsenal) [Captain]
Substitutes:
Diane Caldwell (SC Sand) for Campbell
Rianna Jarrett (Wexford WFC) for Fahey
Emily Whelan (Shelbourne WFC) for Toland
Amber Barrett (Peamount United) for Kiernan