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14.03.2009 at 16:00 Lagos Stadium
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Attendance: |
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USA |
1 - 1
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Womens International Under 17 |
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Referee: |
Friendly / r-match |
Republic of Ireland 1-1 USA Harry Kenny’s Irish women’s U17s were moments away from a hard earned victory against the USA in the Algarve today (Saturday) before USA striker, Schram struck in the 79th minute to rescue a dramatic draw for the Americans. Greencastle’s Niamh McLaughlin had given the Irish the lead inside the opening ten minutes but the Republic of Ireland were forced to settle for a draw despite dominating the game for 80 minutes.
The Irish started strongly and were rewarded for their dominance after only ten minutes. In a superb team move starting from Grace Moloney in the Irish goal, the Reading FC keeper spread the ball down the left hand side and Niamh McLaughlin made a clever run to break the American’s offside trap and finished superbly past the keeper to give the Irish a deserved lead on the ten minute mark.
Killala’s Aileen Gilroy was in fantastic form for Harry Kenny’s side up-front and she had a number of opportunities to put the game beyond the USA. Mid-way through the second half Gilroy made a superb run through the American defence and as she faced the keeper she blasted the ball past the keeper but the ball rebounded off the crossbar much to the keepers relief. Moments later, Gilroy found herself in a similar position but this time, she pulled her effort agonisingly wide.
With just one minute remaining, the USA equalised from a free-kick on the half way line. A long ball was played into the Irish box and as the Irish failed to clear the attack USA attacker, Schram, managed to create space and fire home from five yards out.
Despite conceding a late goal, Republic of Ireland manager, Harry Kenny was understandably pleased with his sides performance over the three games, “This has been an incredibly tough week for our girls, we have faced three completely separate USA teams in three international friendlies over the past few days and we have seen continuous improvement in each and every game. I firmly believe that we should have won today’s game as we dominated from start to finish and created some really good chances. That being said, the level of progression that the whole squad have made in the past week has been very promising, the girls have trained well and I know that this experience against the quality of opposition such as the USA will stand to the team come the UEFA Championship qualifiers next October.”
Women's U17 international results
Tuesday, March 10th
Republic of Ireland 1-1 USA
Lagos stadium
Kick-off: 16.00hrs
Thursday, March 12th
Republic of Ireland 0-1 USA
Lagos stadium
Kick-off: 16.00hrs
Saturday, March 14th
Republic of Ireland 0-4 USA
Lagos Stadium
Kick-off: 16.00 hrs
Republic of Ireland
Grace Moloney - Reading FC
Ciara Grant - Kilmacrennan Celtic
Ciara O'Brien - Tramore AFC
Tanya Kennedy - Finn Valley
Megan Campbell - St Francis
Siobhan Killeen - Raheny Utd
Niamh McLaughlin - Greencastle FC
Dora Gorman - Salthill Devon
Niamh Kearney - Stella Maris
Denise O'Sullivan – Wilton
Aileen Gilroy - Killala FC
Substitutes
Rebecca Kearney - Lakewood Ath (on for McLaughlin 70mins)
Amanda Budden - Wilton Utd (on for Moloney, 70 mins)
Avril Kilkelly - Westport Utd (on for Killeen, 70 mins)
Jessica Gleeson - Tramore FC (on for Kennedy 70 mins)
Nicole Owens - Raheny Utd (on for O’Sullivan 70 mins)
Olivia Smartt - Stella Maris (on for O’Brien 70 mins)
Stacie Donnelly - Reading FC (on for Gorman, 30 mins)
Manager
Harry Kenny |
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