AS THE CLOCK ticked towards the hour mark yesterday at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney, Vera Pauw decided it was time for a change.
Birmingham City’s Lucy Quinn and Shamrock Rovers teenage star Abbie Larkin were beckoned from their warm-up and issued their instructions.
Up to this point Ireland had been competitive, well-structured, hard to break down and could count themselves unfortunate to be a goal behind, having conceded a clumsy penalty.
That said, they had created little to nothing by way of a goalscoring threat. Pauw’s assertion that the scoreline now required something different from her team was the correct call.
For those of us still on something of a learning curve to knowing this team in greater depth, co-commentator Stephanie Roches remarks on Larkin as she stepped onto the field got us excited.
“What a player, what a talent. She’s such a good prospect. I play with her every day at (Shamrock) Rovers. She really is a special player and she has a huge future ahead of her.”
Could Larkin and Quinn impact the match?
In the 70th minute, Quinn collected a throw from Heather Payne, cleverly put her body between the ball and the two Australian players who were trying to dispossess her and managed to manufacture a corner kick for her side.
This may seem like a minor victory, but it was anything but.
It cannot be overstated how important attacking corner kicks are to this Irish team and it would have been to their frustration that it had taken them so long to earn their first.
Over the remainder of the game, Ireland earned no less than seven more corners, each of them prominently featuring either Quinn or Larkin in the build-up.
In Megan Connolly, off her right foot and, in particular, McCabe off her left, Ireland have two outstanding set piece takers.
The Irish support knew this too and it was noticeable how they were instantly on their feet and cheering as McCabe jogged across to take the first.
She didn’t disappoint.
Her fast-paced in-swinging delivery forced an outstanding direct save from Mackenzie Arnold, the first real activity the Australian keeper had.
Crucially, for two attack-mind players, both Larkin and Quinn were quick to show that they were capable of fulfilling their defensive duties too.
As Australia tried to play out from the back, Larkin and Quinn tucked into narrow positions, preventing any balls from being played through the lines.
This forced Australia wide, at which point one of the two would quickly press the full-back, using the touchline as an aide to box them in as they tried to turn the ball over or at least force a backwards pass.
Larkin can be seen doing this brilliantly in the 72nd minute when pouncing on Carpenter and earning her side a free kick.
Only a minute later, Carpenter was again forced into an error. Her misplaced pass, under Larkin’s pressure, was intercepted by captain McCabe, who quickly slid the ball back into the teenager’s path. The attempted delivery was diverted away for another Ireland corner.
This time it was a Connolly delivery that caused problems.
Arnold was only able to punch down into the path of Denise O’Sullivan and the Cork woman would have been expected to hit the target given her ability.
Yet another corner quickly arrived after an intercept by Larkin and a great through ball by Quinn. Following the McCabe delivery, the passage of play eventually ended with Australian players desperately throwing bodies in front of attempts from first Kyra Carusa and then Payne.
Just after the 80th minute, following treatment to the Australian keeper, Quinn and Larkin linked up on a counterattack that should have delivered more.
After Niamh Fahey produced a defiant block from an effort by Katrina Gorry, Quinn latched onto the loose ball and drove forward powerfully, eating up the ground as she went from just outside her own 18-yard box to the attacking half of the field in seconds.
Larkin went with her and drifted in field into space to collect Quinn’s pass and create a 2v2 opportunity. In what was probably her only real error, her first touch failed her, and the ball spun back towards the chasing Australian players.
Late on, in a last throw of the dice, Pauw changed tack again, with Lucy Quinn now partnering centre back-turned-centre forward Louise Quinn up top in a four-four-two shape.
The former continued to cause headaches in her new more advanced role and as the clock ticked towards the 90th minute she again cleverly managed to position herself between the ball and the oncoming challenge, earning a free kick for Ireland on the edge of the Australian box.
Connolly’s resulting attempt looked as though it would have found the net had it not grazed the head of an Australian defender on its way to the top corner.
Do they start against Canada?
As half hour cameos go, Larkin and Quinn did as well as a coach could reasonably hope. The side’s attacking intent improved significantly, while there was no drop off in defensive application.
Pauw has decisions to make.