Experimental Ireland edged out in Spain
AFTER 65 minutes of this tense, tightly-poised game on a windy night in La Manga, Vera Pauw called on the artillery, bringing Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan off the bench in an attempt to add some zip to a flagging Irish performance. And it worked, to a certain extent.
McCabe whipped in one of her trademark crosses towards the end as Ireland searched for an equaliser that just wouldn’t come. No matter. This was a useful exercise for Pauw.
This week in the south of Spain was about deepening her squad options ahead of the resumption of the 2023 World Cup qualifying campaign in Sweden in April. And she certainly did that.
Brighton goalkeeper Megan Walsh, who has been having an exceptional season in the WSL, was one of three players to make their Ireland debut and she was one of the outstanding performers, pulling off a number of splendid saves during the 90 minutes.
The goal that she did concede in the seventh minute was unfortunate as it came from a rebound after another fine stop, Elizabeta Lazareva just reacting quicker than Diane Caldwell, with the Russian midfielder cushioning the ball past Walsh.
But Walsh didn’t let it bother her and for the rest of the night, she looked like she couldn’t be beaten in an assured performance. Shelbourne’s Chloe Mustaki completed her comeback from an ACL injury by making her senior debut in the back three alongside Claire Walsh and Caldwell, who captained the side.
Up front, Shels teenager Abbie Larkin partnered Leanne Kiernan.
Kiernan has been in excellent form for Liverpool as they sit on top of the Championship, and she was Ireland’s liveliest player in the opening 45 minutes, almost scoring an audacious equaliser five minutes before half-time when she tried to chip the ball over Russian keeper from 35 yards out, but Grinkchenko was alert enough to put the effort out for a corner.
But given the inexperience of the Irish side, with so many regulars given the night off, Pauw will be content with the way that Ireland played against a Russian side who are six places above them in the FIFA rankings. It would have been nice to make the final of this Pinatar Invitational tournament, but with the displays of the likes of Larkin, Kiernan and Ellen Molloy, who created a halfchance out of nothing a few minutes into the second half,
Pauw will feel that this was a good night’s work, irrespective of the result.
IRELAND: M Walsh; Mutaski, C Walsh, Caldwell; Atkinson (Ziu h-t), Molloy (O’Sullivan 65), Barrett (Littlejohn h-t), O’Gorman (McCabe 65); Kiernan (Quinn 84), Larkin (Carusa 65)
RUSSIA: Grichenko; Belomyttseva, Mashokova, Samoilova, Abullina; Iakurova, Peterova, Lazareva, Fedorova; Pantiukhina, Korovkina