STANDING IN THE middle of the assembled press, with all their media commitments completed, Amber Barrett pulled Abbie Larkin in for a kiss on the forehead.

A touching embrace between two of Ireland’s goalscorers after another historic night in Cork for the women’s national team. Kyra Carusa, Ireland’s other provider in a crucial 3-2 win, was hovering nearby.

They had just stood before the cameras and recorders to relive every moment, their hair still wet from badly needed showers after playing through biblical rain. 

“Now, youse make my hair look nice, because youse always stitch me up,” Barrett said when it was her turn to stand under the spotlight, and summarise the scale of this victory over the Netherlands which brings Ireland one step closer to another World Cup.

With the brush of her boot, she managed to squeeze the ball in at the back post in the 90th minute to seal an incredible result. It was reminiscent of the goal Troy Parrott scored in the dying seconds against Hungary last year.

Amber Barrett scoring the winning goal at the death. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

Barrett has experienced nights like this before. She was the one who stamped Ireland’s ticket to the 2023 World Cup with the only goal of the game against Scotland in a playoff at Hampden Park in 2022. 

And now here she was again, stepping up to be the match-winner and make direct World Cup qualification a real possibility for Ireland now.

She struggled to make sense of a game in which Ireland fumbled the lead twice before clinching victory in the dying minutes.

“Another moment I’ll definitely never forget,” Barrett began.

“I don’t know what it is about Cork. There’s something about Cork that just works so well for us.

“We were talking about it in the last camp, we said that the Dutch won’t like coming to Cork. Whatever it is about us down here, the pitch was in absolutely immaculate condition and [it was] just an unbelievable game.” 

Ireland remain unbeaten in the home of Cork GAA. After previous wins over France (3-1) and Slovenia (1-0), they are now three from three in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Manager Carla Ward has previously discussed Ireland’s winning record at the venue, and it came up again during her post-match press conference on Friday night. She revealed that she touched on it during a meeting with the players, and encouraged them to use the energy in the stadium to dismantle the Dutch.

“Cork loves us coming down here, I think.”

Barrett is a fan of Páirc Uí Chaoimh too and would be happy to keep using it as a home venue.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t mind. And try and get a wee stadium built up in Donegal and bring youse all up there.”

In a former life, Barrett was a promising Gaelic footballer and was a valued player for the Donegal ladies. The road she didn’t travel often crosses her mind when she encounters tough times in football. But nights like this remind her why she chose this path.

“I could be still in Donegal, playing Gaelic football. Part of me would probably still love to do that, but at the same time, we’re one win away from potentially going to another World Cup, with an incredible group of humans in that dressing room. Anything’s possible. Let’s just go for it now.”

Kyra Carusa wheels away in celebration after scoring the opening goal for Ireland. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO

Carusa was in similarly enthusiastic form. She spoke with humility when she was asked about scoring Ireland’s opening goal in the first half after some brilliant creativity from Ruesha Littlejohn, and a clever assist from Larkin.

Questions about the other goals on the night brought out a giddiness in her voice.

“I said it to Abbie, ‘You scoring that second goal was actually cinema,’” she said, bringing us all back to that second-half goal which came within a minute of Ireland conceding from the penalty spot.

Barrett’s dramatic winner brought up an interesting conversation she had with Carusa earlier in the campaign. Barrett wanted to know her teammate’s favourite moment with the Ireland team.

“Your big toe in the Scotland game,” came Carusa’s reply at the time, another nod to that famous night four years ago.

Of course, she had to change her answer after Barrett’s heroics against the Netherlands.

“New favourite memory,” she said when she finally tracked down the Donegal woman during the full-time celebrations.

“My papa is from Cork. I said, ‘I have a goal in this game for me and for my Papa.’ So, thank you, Tony. My auntie Tess is here as well so it was special to score in front of her.”

World Cup qualification is within Ireland’s grasp now, and victory next Tuesday against France in Grenoble would seal their place at next year’s tournament. 

“We have so much momentum and I’d always bet on us,” Carusa continues. “And we remember that last game against France that we had earlier in the year. That’s not something we’re forgetting, just like our last game against the Netherlands. It was not something we were going to forget. So, I think we’ll take that going into Tuesday.”

The 21-year-old Abbie Larkin is one of Ireland’s emerging stars, and she cemented her place as a future leader of the team with a Player of the Match performance on Friday night. She didn’t hesitate when she was asked if the team believes that victory is possible against the French.

“100%.

“The way we fight for each other, motivate each other is [like] nothing I’ve seen before. We’ll have our night and have the emotions high and be right back at it on the pitch the next day. We need to work on improvements for the game in France.”

From Cork to Grenoble, Ireland’s World Cup adventure will continue next week.