IT WAS A debut worth waiting for as Niamh Farrelly made an instant impact for Glasgow City.
After a four-month delay enforced by Covid-19, the Scottish Women’s Premier League champions resumed their title defence with a 3-0 victory against Celtic yesterday.
Farrelly capped a player-of-the-match performance in her first outing for the club by scoring the third goal as Scott Booth’s side ran out comprehensive winners.
The versatile 21-year-old, who can operate in defence and midfield, then boarded a flight to Dublin to link up with the Republic of Ireland squad ahead of the friendlies against Denmark and Belgium.
Farrelly joined Glasgow City from Peamount United, having impressed Booth when the two clubs faced each other in a Champions League qualifying-round fixture – which the Scottish outfit won via a penalty shootout – last November.
“Obviously it was a long time coming because when I did move over there on New Year’s Day, everything kind of shut off in Scotland due to coronavirus,” she said of her debut.
“I was over there for about three months but that was my first game yesterday. Playing against Celtic, getting a start in my professional debut and getting a goal, I haven’t really thought about it much – it’s been a mad few hours – but I’m delighted.”
📺️ | ANOTHER DEBUTANT GOAL! ⚽️@Niamh_Farrelly ➡️ touch 👌 ➡️ finish 🔥 ➡️ celebration! 💪
— Glasgow City FC (@GlasgowCityFC) April 5, 2021
BBC Alba full game ➡️ https://t.co/hnfrJGhIEv
GCFC TV Highlights ➡️ 4pm tomorrow pic.twitter.com/5TEDegg8eS
Graduating to a full-time set-up is something that Farrelly hopes will boost her prospects at international level. The Dubliner has won two senior caps but has yet to play under current manager Vera Pauw since her appointment in September 2019.
For this week’s games, Pauw has vowed to give opportunities to players who haven’t featured for her thus far. Ireland host Denmark on Thursday evening at Tallaght Stadium, before taking on Belgium in Brussels on Sunday.
“I decided that [Glasgow] would be a good move for me. It was the right time to move on,” said Farrelly, who was a key member of Peamount’s double-winning side last year.
“I did let Vera know that it was in my intentions to maybe go abroad. When I brought up that Glasgow were interested, she was happy for me and she said it would be good for my development as a player.”
