Susan Ronan’s Republic of Ireland Women’s Under 19 side have progressed from Group 10 of the UEFA 1st Qualifying Phase after they registered a comprehensive 5-1 victory over Bulgaria.
Republic of Ireland 5-1 Bulgaria
Aine O’Gorman, 29 Mins
Noelle Murray, 55 Mins
Christina Byrne, 72 Mins
Grace Murray, 88 Mins
Diane Caldwell, 92 Mins
The Irish struggled to come to terms with the pace of the game from the start but the Bulgarians failed to cause any real attacking threat in the Irish half. As in the first game, Ireland were looking increasingly more dangerous from set pieces and finally punished Bulgaria in the 29th minute from a corner. Grace Murray’s pin-point delivery was powerfully headed beyond the hapless defenders by Áine O’Gorman who added to her tally of goals in this tournament following her hat-trick against Slovakia on Tuesday.
The Republic of Ireland turned on the style in the second half as they looked to secure their passage into the next round. With the Irish controlling the pace of the game, they always looked in control of this high intensity battle. Substitute, Noelle Murray repaid her manager’s confidence in her with just 10 minutes after her introduction with an inspiring finish. Fellow substitute, Christina Byrne crossed the ball to the Raheny star who scissor-kicked the ball past the ‘keeper.
Christina Byrne was herself on the scoresheet after 72 minutes when some clever inter-play between Noelle Murray and Aine O’Gorman at the edge of the box led to a low powerful shot by O’Gorman which was deflected to Byrne who stabbed the ball home from close range.
Grace Murray essentially finished off the game from an Irish point of view when the Irish were awarded a direct free kick after 88 minutes. The Dundalk playmaker launched an unstoppable shot which curled over the wall and into the top corner of the net.
As the Irish pushed forward in search of more goals in the dying moments, an extended period of pressure in the Bulgarian box led to a quick counter-attack and Lyn Bradley was helpless in the Irish goal as Bulgaria pulled a goal back late into injury time.
Susan Ronan’s side scored their fifth goal straight after the re-start. Jennifer Critchley broke down the right wing and played a pin-point pass to Noelle Murray at the edge of the box who set-up Caldwell at the edge of the box. Diane Caldwell struck a relatively tame shot at the Bulgarian keeper but the speculative effort squirmed underneath the despairing grasp of the keeper.
Republic of Ireland manager Susan Ronan was thrilled with her sides performance, “With one game remaining in this group against a very strong Italy side, I am delighted that we managed to qualify today which means Sunday’s game against Italy will decide who will claim top-spot in the group.”
She added, “At half time we were one up on Bulgaria and I commend all of our players for their fantastic work rate which seen us play some fantastic football and score some amazing goals.”
Women’s Under 19 UEFA Championship Qualifying Phase Group 10: Fixtures
Sunday 1st October
Republic of Ireland v Italy
HFC Humenné, Kick-off 11.00 hrs (local time)
Republic of Ireland
Lyn Bradley (Raheny)
Catriona McGilp (Cabinteely)
Susan Hackett (Stella Maris)
Seana Cooke (Arsenal)
Grace Murray (Dundalk)
Meabh De Burca (Salthill Devon)
Stephanie Roche (Stella Maris)
Diane Caldwell (Hofstra University)
Jennifer Critchley (Lifford)
Aoife Herbert (Ballina Town)
Aine O’Gorman (Stella Maris)
Subs
Lyn-Marie Grant (Lifford) On for Stephanie Roche 45 Mins
Niamh Reid-Burke (St. Mochtas)
Christina Byrne (Raheny) On for Seana Cooke, 60 Mins
Hannah Barrett (Fulham)
Michelle Glynn (Mervue United)
Rachel Graham (Raheny)
Noelle Murray (Raheny) On for Aoife Herbert, 45 Mins |
