Ireland 0 England 2 (FT)
Full-time: Ireland 0 England 2
Ireland fall to back-to-back defeats to begin their Euros qualifying campaign. Not entirely unexpected, it has to be said given the quality of opposition. In the end, set pieces and long throws were Ireland’s only source of attacking threat. They don’t have the quality to compete with a side like England any other way. Which makes you think, why did Megan Campbell and her unique, throw-in threat not start the game?
I’m sure Eileen Gleeson will be asked that amongst many other questions.
Stay tuned for the match report and reaction from our writers at the Aviva Stadium!
90+4 mins: McCabe looks to pick out O’Sullivan who has acres of space in the box. She must have thought there was a teammate behind her as she lets the ball go, only for England to clear.
That’s that, full-time, Ireland fall to defeat.
90+3 mins: Ireland appeal for a handball in midfield but nothing doing. A ball over the top trickles harmlessly to Hampton who takes another 30 seconds off the clock. This is petering out into a soft ending after Ireland had a threatening period in the last few minutes.
90+2 mins: McCabe gets her name taken for catching Mead late. She’s also just been named player of the match. Hometown bias there, methinks.
Four minutes to be added on.
85 mins: Louise Quinn is a de facto centre forward now. She chases a long ball from Mannion but there’s too much on it. Hampton catches and wastes some time off the clock.
BLOCK! McCabe somehow manages to block Hampton’s attempted clearance and is in on goal. She chases the ball down in the box and, from an acute angle, takes aim. She hits it straight at Hampton who makes the save.
England responds to the pressure with two changes. Chloe Kelly is on for Lauren James, Rachel Daly is on for Alessia Russo.
82 mins: McCabe gets played in behind but the defence tracks her well. She wisely plays the ball back to Campbell for a cross and it’s a beauty of a ball in. Connolly gets a head on it as, again, England don’t look convincing with their aerial defence. The ball is played back out to Campbell who wins a corner.
SAVE! Hayes again is in the mix, getting a head on the corner just yards from goal. Her connection isn’t the best and it’s also straight at Hampton.
80 mins: Hayes is again involved high up the pitch as she gets a header on McCabe’s cross. This one was a harder chance as her effort sails harmlessly wide.
79 mins: This time, Ireland opt to mix it up. Campbell feints the long throw before going short to McCabe, who instead launches the ball into the box. This one is much easier for Hampton to deal with as she catches and clears.
77 mins: CHANCE! McCabe’s free has too much on it but Quinn slides brilliantly to send the ball back across the six-yard box. Hayes has an open goal in front of her but can’t get the ball out from underneath her feet and England hack it behind for a corner. What a chance that was. Ireland’s best of the night so far.
76 mins: Campbell’s long through leads to another melée of bodies. Hampton somehow fights through the traffic to punch clear, but James fouls Kiernan to give McCabe a chance from the set piece.
75 mins: Half a chance for Ireland as Kiernan pounces on a loose pass high up the pitch. Carter though defends the break very well, blocking the cross before muscling Kiernan off the ball and clearing.
England make another change: Toone off, Stanway on.
70 mins: Not for the first time tonight, Ireland’s quality in the final third - or lack thereof - lets them down. McCabe drifts from one wing to the other to open up space, but Mannion’s attempted pass to Kiernan evades everyone and goes out of play. That final ball is proving elusive.
68 min: Over the bar! Toone tries to place it in the top corner from distance. Brosnan never looked worried as the ball sails over the bar. Not by much, but Brosnan looked like she had it covered.
67 mins: Another Ireland change. Emily Murphy replaces Carusa up front.
66 mins: SAVE! Patten is caught napping by James out wide who then swings a beautiful ball into the box. Mead heads the ball across the face of goal for the onrushing Kirby. She catches the volley well but hits it straight at Brosnan. She didn’t know a lot about that one, but she keeps the ball out of the net.
63 mins: Campbell’s throw-ins have injected some life into this Ireland effort. England nearly make a mess of clearing a long ball in, giving Ireland a corner. McCabe swings it in but Williamson does just enough to get the ball out of the box.
61 mins: Time for Ireland’s changes. Leanne Kiernan replaces Payne in an attacking move, Megan Campbell is on for Lucy Quinn. Campbell’s first involvement is a trademark long throw. England allow the ball to bounce and Carter is able to clear just before Kiernan pounces at the back post.
57 mins: Mead’s first touch involves being absolutely clattered by Carusa tracking back. Welcome to the game.
Two changes for England. Park is off for Kirby. Hemp also goes, Beth Mead comes in.
55 mins: The way England beat the press of Carusa, Payne and O’Sullivan is brilliant to watch. They’re more skilled on the ball and it’s showing. Eventually a crunching tackle from Hayes does stop the momentum but England get it back only to start passing it around the back again.
53 mins: England are knocking it about almost at will. Ireland are chasing shadows in midfield. A poor touch from Hemp does cough up possession but as soon as they get it back, Ireland are unable to hold on as Mannion battles in vain.
50 mins: James is down for England but Ireland refuse to put the ball out. Intentionally, that is. A long ball for Mannion runs long and out of play, allowing James to receive treatment.
49 mins: England’s press is keeping Ireland penned inside their own half, down the right flank. When they do break out, England’s midfield mops up to win possession back with ease.
46 mins: We’re back underway as the second half kicks off with England in possession. Ireland made one change at half-time, Megan Connolly replacing Ruesha Littlejohn.
Then there was this handball against Littlejohn. Probably the right decision to give the penalty. Grenwood made no mistake.
Let’s run through the goals. Firstly, Ireland couldn’t deal with this ball into the box. They had chances to clear, didn’t, and Lauren James punished them.
Ireland have certainly been the worse of the two teams, but England haven’t exactly created plenty of high quality chances. If it wasn’t for a bounce of the ball off a shin, Lauren James wouldn’t have been able to open the scoring, and if Littlejohn had her arm below her head, England wouldn’t have had that first penalty. Two Irish mistakes have cost them dear.
There was some justice, at least, when Greenwood missed a second penalty when Louise Quinn was harsly penalised for a handball that shouldn’t have been given.
Going forward, Ireland have been reduced to asking Payne and Carusa to chase a series of long balls, with limited success.
Ireland 0 England 2
45 mins: A rare Irish corner. Quinn and McCabe linked up well with the former pressuring England into conceding the corner. From the set piece, a heap of Ireland bodies go to the floor but there are no penalty appeals and England clear.
No added time so that’s that for the first half!
44 mins: The offside flag and McCabe save Ireland. Lauren James would have been in if McCabe hadn’t blocked her run after Russo played the ball in behind. Even if McCabe hadn’t have commited that cynical block, the offside flag went up on James.
43 mins: Payne once again goes on a run chasing a long ball, Carter once again beating her to it. Story of Ireland’s night so far in attack, Payne and Carusa in particular chasing a host of lost causes.
39 mins: Willamson breaks up an Ireland attack and switches the play into attack well. England work an opportunity for James to pull the trigger but Brosnan is able to her right and make a comfortable save.
Here is that controversial penalty given against Louise Quinn. Given the ball deflected off her knee before hitting her arm, should the penalty have been given? Not that it mattered, Greenwood hitting the post with the spot-kick.
37 mins: Payne chases a lost cause of a long ball down the right and does well. She manages to win the ball back as support floods in behind her, but England recover to win it back through Greenwood.
33 mins: What a bonkers first half an hour it’s been. Ireland, somehow, aren’t three goals down but they will definitely have questions about that second penalty. In any case, they try to go on a rare foray into the England half but Payne is cynically pulled down from behind.
OFF THE POST!
Greenwood misses! After slotting the first penalty earlier, Greenwood catches it well but it canons off the post and away to safety. Brosnan dove the right way, so maybe she would have saved it in any case.
ANOTHER PENALTY FOR ENGLAND!
Louise Quinn is furious. Hemp’s cross was a dangerous one, Russo challenging, but the ball bounces off Quinn’s knee and onto her arm. Again, the arm is in the air, which is deemed an unnatural position, but this looks very harsh. Given the late deflection off her own knee, I’m not sure what Quinn is meant to do to get out of the way.
27 mins: For all the errors that have gifted England two early goals, Ireland’s offside trap is working. That’s twice now in the last couple of minutes they’ve stepped up to catch Lauren James offside.
25 mins: A quiet few minutes after the second goal. McCabe is venturing further forward in a bid to influence proceedings, but she’s let down on a counter-attack by a poor touch from Mannion after she had spread the play. James and Carusa are both caught offside at either end of the pitch in quick succession.
Here is that handball from Littlejohn that allowed England to double their lead. It looks a fair decision to me. What do you reckon?
21 mins: Better link-up play from Ireland as Mannion’s cross-field ball finds McCabe in stride. She tries to play in Lucy Quinn in behind, but her first-time pass has too much on it as it rolls through to Hampton in the England goal.
GOAL ENGLAND!
Greenwood sends Brosnan the wrong way from the spot and England have doubled their lead! Disastrous start for Ireland.
Ireland 0 England 2
PENALTY ENGLAND
Ruesha Littlejohn has given away a spot-kick! She jumped in to block a volley from just inside the box, but did so with her arms in the air. The shot hits her arm which is above her head in an unnatural position and the referee points to the spot.
16 mins: Ireland win the ball back on halfway with McCabe eyeing up a rare opportunity to sprint forward from wing-back. However, the ball to her from Lucy Quinn as poor as England win it back.
GOAL ENGLAND - Lauren James puts the visitors in front!
Ireland fail to deal with a ball into the box, Walsh’s cross headed goalwards by Bronze. It rebounds off Patten and straight into the path of James who slots the ball past Brosnan from 10 yards out. Clinical.
Ireland 0 England 1
11 mins: Payne quite blatantly pushes over Williamson but no foul is given as Ireland come away with the ball. A stray pass to Lucy Quinn is kept in play, but it kills the counter-attacking momentum. Quinn turns and feeds McCabe behind her as Ireland look to go again.
9 mins: O’Sullivan is dropping deep to try and get on the ball for Ireland and it’s working well. She opens up space only for Littlejohn’s final ball to be misdirected. Payne then wins it back high up the pitch again, only for Littlejohn to again fail to find a green jersey.
7 mins: First effort on goal for either side but it’s a very easy save for Brosnan in the Irish goal. James does well to get a cross in despite Irish pressure but Russo’s header is weak as it trickles into Brosnan’s grasp.
5 mins: Hemp threatens down the left flank for England. She cuts inside Mannion a bit too easily before firing from the edge of the box. Louise Quinn blocks it behind for a corner, which is easily headed away at the front post. Poor delivery.
3 mins: Given the way Ireland have set up, it looks like it will be a long night for Kyra Carusa as the lone forward chasing lost causes. She does well to chase a ball down to win a corner, but McCabe gets it too close to the ‘keeper as Hampton gathers.
2 mins: As soon as England get on the ball, Ireland drop into their shape. It’s a 5-4-1 formation with McCabe and Payne sitting deep as wing-backs. Aoife Mannion shuts this particular attack down with a good challenge before clearing.
1 min: They’re underway at the Aviva! Ireland had an extra long huddle to make England wait before kick-off. It’s Kyra Carusa who gets things underway, rolling the ball back to Denise O’Sullivan as Ireland start with the ball.
Amhrán na bhFiann and God Save the King are out of the way. Minutes away from kick-off now.
There’s a healthy enough crowd in situ in the Aviva. There were over 30,000 tickets sold prior to kick-off, but they’re expecting plenty of late walk-ups.
“They’re world-class players, they’re not European champions for no reason. They’ve got quality all over their squad and we’ll be looking to nullify that on Tuesday. We’re realistic, we know what we are up against, but we always believe we can go and beat anyone on our day.”
— Katie McCabe
Our final piece of pre-match reading comes from the Ireland captain herself. Katie McCabe spoke to the media this week about the challenge facing Ireland tonight, as Mary Hannigan reports.
Here’s how tonight’s visitors look. In goal, Hannah Hampton replaces Mary Earps from the line-up that drew with Sweden, while Leah Williamson starts.
Team news is in. Two changes for Ireland, and they look to be in midfield. Lucy Quinn is in for Emily Murphy, while Ruesha Littlejohn replaces Megan Connolly.
“Well, if she doesn’t have the ball then she can’t do anything . . . that’s a good start, right?”
— England's Leah Williamson
Mary Hannigan also heard from the England camp this week. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the favourites are playing up Ireland’s chances, but their captain did have plenty of interesting things to say about her Arsenal teammate, Katie McCabe.
The stark stats show that France had 21 attempts on goal to Ireland’s one, and while there was admirable defensive resilience in keeping the French scoreless for the last 84 minutes of the game, the hosts’ failure to be clinical in the last third added some glisten to that effort. And for all the talk of a more progressive Ireland since Pauw’s departure, there was an ‘as you were’ feel to the failure to cause the French any great trouble.
— Mary Hannigan
Despite the close nature of the scoreline, soccer writer Mary Hannigan believes Ireland flattered to deceive and need to improve significantly ahead of tonight’s match. You can read Mary’s analysis of where Friday’s result leaves Ireland here.
[ Ireland need to identify way to trouble England after limited showing in FranceOpens in new window ]
Good evening all and welcome to this historic occasion. After playing their first game in the Aviva Stadium last year against Northern Ireland, Ireland women once again play away from their spiritual home in Tallaght. Katie McCabe and co are back at Lansdowne Road for this Euro 2025 qualifying clash with England.
This is, of course, the second game of these qualifiers after a narrow 1-0 defeat to France in Metz last week. Can Ireland bounce back to pull off a significant upset now they are back on home soil? We’ll find out in due course.
Nathan Johns here to guide you through all the action as it happens from the Aviva. Kick-off is at 7.30pm but for now, we’ll have plenty of build-up over the next hour or so.
