Republic of Ireland 1 Denmark 1
DAVE Connell's Republic of Ireland U19 women maintained their impressive recent form with a 1-1 draw with Denmark at the La Manga tournament this evening.
The Irish had drawn 1-1 with England on Saturday and also drew 2-2 with the Danes in the qualifying round of the UEFA Women's U19 Championship in Dublin in September.
Ireland took the lead in the 20th minute when Savannah McCarthy bagged her first goal at this level when she turned the ball home from close range after the Danes failed to clear a Lisa Casserly corner.
Both sides created a number of chances and Irish keeper Courtney Brosnan made a couple of top class saves before eventually conceding the equaliser in the 75th minute.
"I'm happy with the result even though I felt we could have won the game. We showed a lot of character and defended well," said Connell.
"We went 1-0 up and held that lead until 15 minutes from the end. Unfortunately the shot squeezed in but Courtney had an outstanding game. I'm happy, we came here to prepare for UEFA elite qualifying phase and these games are providing us with the tests we need.
One blow for Ireland was the forced withdrawal of Shannon Carson in the first half but a hospital scan has shown that the damage was limited to a bad ankle sprain.
Ireland meet Sweden in their next fixture on Wednesday evening (5pm Irish). The Swedes beat Scotland 1-0 today after drawing 3-3 with the USA on Saturday.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Courtney Brosnan, Keeva Keenan, Savannah McCarthy, Ciara O'Connell, Grace Wright, Chloe Mustaki, Lisa Casserly, Shannon Carson, Sara Rowe, Clare Shine, Amy O'Connor.
Subs: Megan Connolly for Carson 35 mins; Jess Gargan for Shine 55; Lauren Dwyer for Keenan 60; Ciara Rossiter for Casserly 60; Ciara McNamara for Rowe 75. |
