Ireland suffer first loss of the Eileen Gleeson reign at the hands of Wales
IRELAND 0
WALES 2 (Jess Fishlock 7, Lily Woodham 22)
A first defeat in nine for Ireland and a first win for Wales over the same stretch wasn’t the way the Girls in Green wanted to prepare for next Tuesday’s Euro draw.
This was a fully deserved victory by the visitors, secured by two goals inside 22 minutes before a record crowd at Tallaght.
Eight places separated the teams in FIFA’s rankings beforehand but it was Wales who looked the superior force despite Ireland being the ones sharing exalted company in the draw.
Ominously, better opposition awaits in the qualifiers.
To borrow the line from FAI chairman Tony Keohane at the Oireachtas hearing last week, Ireland will hope this is a mere slip-up.
With their next game a qualifier against one of Europe’s top 15 nations in early April, Eileen Gleeson was of a mind to maintain consistency of selection.
Doubtless injury victim Denise O’Sullivan will reestablish her starting spots for the competitive fare but the manager wasn’t tinkering too much with the side that held higher ranked Italy scoreless on Friday in Florence.
Well, that was her intention anyway before the best laid plans came unstuck.
Two changes by design saw Leanne Kiernan and Amber Barrett come into the team. They combined off the bench against the Azzurri for Barrett to slot home a goal that seemed a harsh call to adjudge as offside.
Considering Barrett – the scorer of the goal that sealed World Cup qualification in 2022 – was bombed entirely from the squad by Gleeson as the Nations League campaign racked up wins, it was quite a turnaround for the Donegal native, now operating for Standard Liege, to be in the first XI.
Her switch for Kyra Carusa and Kiernan swapping places with Izzy Atkinson
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