Susan Ronan’s Republic of Ireland women’s U19 side continued their preparation for the UEFA Championship, elite qualifying phase with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Switzerland at Frank Cooke Park this evening (Friday).
Switzerland scored two goals in the space of two minutes early in the second half which gave the Irish a real mountain to climb early on. Swiss striker, Jehona Mehmeti scored the first goal after 14 minutes when a slick attacking move from the left side of midfield was played into Mehmeti who made no mistake with her finish from close range.
Bettina Baer scored Switzerland’s second one minute later when a misplaced pass in the Irish midfield allowed the midfielder, Baer to run in-between the two central defenders and she ran through on to Sinead Crotty’s goal and calmly slotted home,
Ana Maria Crnogorcevic all but sealed the win for the Swiss with her goal in the 53rd minute as she caught the Irish defence flat-footed with her clever run into the box and she connected with the pin-point through ball to put Switzerland 3-0 in front.
As Irish manager Susan Ronan made a number of changes to her side, as she blooded a number of youngsters into the U19 squad, a number of players showed undoubted quality which may give the Irish manager a selection headache ahead of the UEFA Championship elite qualifying phase in Germany.
Substitutes Ciara Grant, Amanda Parkes and Zoe Murphy all impressed but it was American born Shelby Murphy who was making her international debut for the side who scored for the Irish in the 77th minute.
Wilton United’s Amanda Parkes who was introduced minutes earlier played a clever ball to Shelby Murphy, splitting the Swiss defence leaving the San Diego striker one-on-one with Schwery in Switzerland’s goal. The Swiss keeper was on-hand to stop Murphy’s initial effort but the striker kept a cool head and slotted the rebound into the empty net.
The Irish complete their preparation for the UEFA Championship on Sunday, April 12th when they face Switzerland in the second game of the double international friendly at Frank Cooke Park at 1pm. Susan Ronan’s side travel to Germany for the UEFA Championship elite qualifying phase which will be held from the 23rd -28th April and will play Russia, Slovakia and European superpower, Germany.
With only one team qualifying for next year's finals, the Girls in Green will have to overcome a German side who have won the competition twice in three years.
Double international friendly fixtures:
Friday, April 10th 2009
Republic of Ireland 1-3 Switzerland
Tolka Rovers
Kick-off: 4pm
Sunday, April 12th 2009
Republic of Ireland v Switzerland
Tolka Rovers
Kick-off: 1pm
Republic of Ireland:
Sinead Crotty
Anna McCormack
Megan Campbell
Louise Quinn
Susan Hackett
Karen Duggan
Eilish Ward
Niamh Mulcahy
Zoe Doherty
Gillian McDonnell
Amy Ryan
Substitutes:
Niamh Reid-Burke
Amanda Parkes (on for Mulcahy, 76 mins)
Ciara O’Brien
Ciara Grant (on for Ward, 38 mins)
Lillie Billson (on for Murphy, 45 mins)
Rebecca Walsh (on for McCormack, 75 mins)
Zoe Murphy (on for Campbell, 45 mins)
Niamh Nolan
Shelby Murphy (on for Ryan, 65 mins)
Manager: Susan Ronan
Referee: Hilda McDermott. |
