Ex-Cork GAA star scores winner at Páirc Uí Chaoimh - but Ireland face play-off

Irish Daily Mirror

03-06-2025

An opening that was written in the stars failed to deliver a fairytale ending.
Ireland got the early goal they craved at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, fittingly delivered by former Cork Gaelic footballer Saoirse Noonan.
Yet despite a dominant Nations League display that saw them camped inside the Slovenian final third for much of the game, that was the end of the scoring.
Carla Ward's side needed a four-goal win to leapfrog Slovenia and earn automatic promotion back to League A, thanks to the 4-0 hammering served up in the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign.
Chance after chance fell, but a combination of poor finishing, brave defending and solid goalkeeping frustrated the Girls in Green, who now face a play-off against a third-placed League A side in their bid to return to the top-flight of European competition.
The celebrations on the visiting bench at the final whistle told its own tale.
Ireland reverted to the three-at-the-back that served them well under Vera Pauw and Eileen Gleeson, after five games with a back-four under Ward.
And there was a first start under the new manager for Caitlin Hayes, the previously ever-present defender, who had managed just 50 minutes over three substitute appearances.
Straight away the Girls in Green looked a lot more resilient at the back, not that they were called to do much defending in the opening half.
It was largely one-way traffic, with Ireland causing plenty of problems on the left, where Katie McCabe and Abbie Larkin linked up to great effect.
On the other flank, Emily Murphy gave her finest display yet in a green jersey and was unlucky not to get her name on the scoresheet.
That honour fell to Cork's own Noonan on 19 minutes, thanks to contributions on either wing from McCabe and Murphy, and a delightful cross by Jessie Stapleton.
McCabe's cross was headed clear, but Murphy was alert enough to retrieve the ball near the right-hand sideline and lay it back to Stapleton.
Her first-time cross was headed high and central by Noonan, over the despairing dive of goalkeeper Zala Mersnik and into the net.
Prior to that, Irish intentions were clearly stated. With less than two minutes on the clock, McCabe's corner was met at the back post by Noonan, and her thumping header was cleared off the line by Zara Kramzar.
Three minutes later and a short corner on the right gave McCabe another opportunity to cross. This time the ball was headed over by a defender as Anna Patten was ready to pounce.
Ireland continued to attack and Denise O'Sullivan slipped the ball inside to Megan Connolly, but her shot was blocked by Sara Agrez, while Larkin drew a save from Mersnik.
The chances continued to fall Ireland's way after Noonan's goal. Kyra Carusa, with her back to goal, attempted to steer the ball on target, but her effort bobbled wide of the right-hand post.
A Murphy header from another left-wing delivery was aimed straight at the goalkeeper, and just past the half-hour mark, Connolly's shot from 20 yards was blocked by Agrez.
Patten couldn't direct her header on target as she stepped across her marker to connect with a McCabe cross. A super piece of skill and link-up play between Noonan and Larkin almost led to an opening.
But a reminder of the need to concentrate at both ends of the pitch was delivered moments before half-time when Lara Prasnikar raced into the area and forced Courtney Brosnan to make a smart save.
Early Irish pressure in the second-half led to a couple of set-pieces, but nothing to cause Mersnik too much trouble.
The same could be said about a Connolly effort from 20 yards that fizzed over the bar in the 59th minute.
The excellent Murphy was denied by a diving block as Irish players, including McCabe and Larkin, queued up to find room to shoot, while on the sideline Ward turned to her bench to freshen up her attack.
On came Amber Barrett for goalscorer Noonan, and long-throw expert Megan Campbell, whose first effort moments after her arrival was headed just wide by Patton.
Murphy fired just over from a tight angle as she raced onto Carusa's lay-off, with Carusa screaming for the ball to be returned to her in the centre.
Hayes should have scored in the 73rd minute when she met Connolly's in-swinging free-kick from the left, but her header sailed wide of the far post.
Murphy then drew a save from Mersnik when she cut in from the left and let fly from 20 yards, while the keeper got her hands to another Murphy effort in the 86th minute - a frustrating end to a frustrating evening.