CLAIRE O’RIORDAN SCORED her first and second Celtic goals, as several Republic of Ireland internationals impressed across the water over the weekend.
Ciara Grant was also on target in the Scottish Women’s Cup, while in FA Cup action, Lucy Quinn and Jamie Finn were among the Birmingham City goal-scorers and Rianna Jarrett made her long-awaited return from injury for London City Lionesses.
Centre-half O’Riordan, who joined Celtic from German outfit MSV Duisburg during the summer, struck two first-half goals in the Hoops’ 9-0 win over Falkirk yesterday.
The Limerick native showed she hasn’t lost her striker’s instinct, having previously played in attack for Wexford Youths, and she was delighted to help her side “start the New Year as we mean to go on”.
Get her up top 😅 Congrats on your first Celtic goals today, @claireor17! First of many! 🍀#COYGIG pic.twitter.com/XJzr54xOnc
— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) January 8, 2023
“As a footballer, it’s always nice to score goals but credit goes to my team-mates as well for supporting me and putting the ball in the right areas for me,” O’Riordan said afterwards. “It’s all for the club, so we’ll just keep working on that.
“As a player, it’s important to help in any way possible — if that’s keeping clean sheets at the back, great, but also what we can do to help the team going forward. I think we have a big presence in our attacking set-pieces, which we capitalise on quite well. It’s just about continuing to keep those standards and pushing.”
Donegal midfielder Grant scored directly from a free-kick as her Hearts side also advanced to the next round of the competition. She bagged the opener as the Edinburgh outfit enjoyed a 2-0 victory over Dundee United.
Nice start to 2023, into the next round we go 💪🏻 https://t.co/LXGDq5uomw
— Ciara Grant (@GrantCiara) January 8, 2023
In England, Lucy Quinn and Jamie Finn were both on the scoresheet as Birmingham secured a comfortable 4-0 win over Huddersfield Town in the third round of the FA Cup.
“When you see FA Cup games, you want to get involved in the goals,” Quinn said afterwards, her namesake and captain Louise also playing the full game for the Blues.
“I’d like to be consistent with goals and produce them week in, week out. I was happy to get on the scoresheet, but overall, I’m glad it wasn’t the only goal of the game and we were fairly convincing with that.”
The Championship side will face Women’s Super League [WSL] opposition in Everton — home of Courtney Brosnan — next. “As a team, we really love those challenges,” Quinn added.
“That’s the kind of side that we want to be playing, we want to get the club back up to the WSL. It’s a massive test for us against a good side. We’re definitely more than capable to go out and produce something up there.”
And another positive Irish development in the competition was the return of Rianna Jarrett.
The injury-plagued striker made her comeback for London City Lionesses after the latest knee setback which has hampered her progress. A three-time cruciate victim, Jarrett underwent surgery on her meniscus last May.
Yesterday, she was introduced as a second-half substitute in London City’s 1-0 win over Portsmouth and wrote on Twitter afterwards: “It’s been a while to say the least! A lot of work still to be done, but buzzing to finally be back on the pitch.”
“344 days later I’ve finally made it back onto the pitch,” the Wexford native added on Instagram. “2022 was a difficult one to say the least. A long way from where I want to be but one day at a time! Looking forward to seeing what 2023 has in store.”
It's been a while to say the least! A lot of work still to be done, but buzzing to finally be back on the pitch with @LC_Lionesses 💙 https://t.co/0NeJjYs7nB
— Rianna Jarrett (@RiannaJarrett) January 8, 2023
Hayley Nolan and Lily Agg also played for the Lionesses, who face Tottenham Hotspur away in the next round.
From Sarah Rowe eyeing the World Cup dream to Irish-eligible Aoife Mannion making her return from a cruciate ligament injury and transfers for Roma McLaughlin and Eleanor Ryan-Doyle, there were no shortage of other big stories across Irish women’s football over the weekend.
The WSL resumes this weekend, with the meeting of Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday among the standout ties.
