Denise O'Sullivan: 'We obviously have a lot of work to do'
An exhausted Denise O’Sullivan was able to gather her thoughts from defeat to England which she admits could have been steeper.
Two first-half goals through Lauren James and Alex Greenwood had the European champions on easy street at Lansdowne Road, a cushion which enabled them not worry about another spot-kick by Greenwood striking the post.
All of that occurred within the opening half hour. England strolled through this second Euro qualifier of six and only got rattled after Megan Campbell was introduced on the hour to catapult her throw-ins on top of stand-in goalkeeper Hannah Hampton.
"You do find out where you are at and we obviously have a lot of work to do,” said O’Sullivan after two gruelling qualifiers over four days against France and England, ranked third and second in the world.
“Of course, England could have scored a lot more.
“It was tough, 90 minutes without the ball pretty much and complete running. Then, we get the ball, we’re not close enough together, the distances are too big so we’re tired. It’s something we’ve always lacked and need to improve going forward.
“We need to play better, be better on the ball, hold it up and play in midfield. We must have no fear and demand the ball. We’d a few opportunities on the ball but we’re just not there yet on the ball, we need to do better.”
Unfortunately we conceded two but they are the moments we have to get better in, conceding those goals.
Ireland have the fallback of a playoff route to next year’s finals in Switzerland if, as looks likely, they fail to finish in the top two of their group.
Sweden, Olympic silver medallists and third at the World Cup, are next for Ireland in back-to-back fixtures, in Dublin on May 31 and Stockholm four days later.
Th
Read on irishexaminer.com
