Toland shines as Girls in Green kick off new era

IRELAND began the post-Vera Pauw era in the best possible way yesterday with a resounding 3-0 victory over Northern Ireland in front of a record attendance of 35,994 in Aviva Stadium.

Goals from Lucy Quinn, Kyra Carusa and Lily Agg proved to be enough on a historic day in Lansdowne Road which was very much about heralding a new dawn for this team. The one-sided nature of this Nations League encounter underlined the fact that Ireland are heavy favourites to top League B1 and the side now travel to Budapest to face Hungary on Tuesday evening.

The sense of a new beginning was clearly illustrated by the fine performance of Tyler Toland in midfield. The Donegal woman was in international exile under the previous regime, meaning that this was her first game for her country in four years.

Understandably, Toland didn’t want to dwell on what happened with Pauw afterwards, insisting that she is just looking forward, like the rest of this team.

‘It has never been easy but we just keep going,’ the Blackburn Rovers midfielder replied when asked if it had been a difficult time.

‘Nothing makes me prouder than playing for Ireland and pulling on the green jersey and that’s what I did here. All positive and I am going to look forward.’

Toland admitted she was nervous before kick-off, although it was hard to detect that in her composed and controlled display.

‘I am nervous before every training session and every game.

‘I think every footballer is. I was just happy to help the team to victory.

‘I have just kept my head down. I’ve obviously been out a while now but I’m going to look forward. We’ve loads of games coming up – good, hard games, and we just want

to keep creating history and legacy.’

Interim manager Eileen Gleeson explained that the decision to start Toland evolved over the week of watching her in training.

‘She has been super in training,’ Gleeson said. ‘And you can see what she brings.

‘Tyler was solid and covered the ground. She gave us options and used the ball well. We want to build and be able to use the ball, and that is exactly what we are looking for.’

Caitlin Hayes also impressed Gleeson on her Ireland debut. ‘Caitlin is solid defensively, is really progressive and composed on the ball.

‘She gave us a lot of out balls for the forwards and has great vision,’ the manager said of the Celtic star. ‘You have in your head that we wanted to start her, but you have to see how people gel when they come in. She was comfortable and she just gives us another option.’

Gleeson (left) confirmed that Denise O’Sullivan picked up a muscular knock late in the game but expects the Cork playmaker to be fit for the Hungary game, where she will again likely be in a more advanced role.

‘She gives us that outlet. It’s difficult for the opposition to pick her up, she is skilful, she is creative. We had a bit more depth for the wing-backs, so she could push forward.’

Gleeson and her coaching staff made a few tweaks to how Ireland played under Pauw, with Katie McCabe and Heather Payne as wing-backs getting further up the field. ‘We only introduced it so it will bed in more as we go on but, given that we have only had a week, the girls reacted well to the changes,’ said Gleeson.

‘But you want to get numbers forward and at the same time retain some balance. Given the type of players that we have, especially our wide players, we need to get them on the ball. That allows for that, gives you two forwards. And we are adaptable.’