ON ANOTHER DAY Kyra Carusa might well have had a hat-trick.
Instead she had to make do with just the one goal as the Republic of Ireland cruised to victory over Northern Ireland and began their Nations League campaign with a statement of intent.
“The performance, clean sheet, putting the ball into the back of the net, several people scoring goals, dominance in possession, it’s massive for us, a huge confidence booster,” Carusa beamed afterwards.
Her display leading the line was one to savour yet again.
Against Canada at the World Cup during the summer she produced a superb 45-minute performance. A kind of ‘How To’ for any lone striker.
Yesterday was different with Lucy Quinn alongside her for support – both getting on the scoresheet too – and offering Ireland the ability to sustain pressure.
Backed up by Denise O’Sullivan in a more advanced midfield role and the dominant duo of Tyler Toland and Megan Connolly, Northern Ireland couldn’t get a foothold in the game.
“It’s nice to have someone to play off,” Carusa added. “What a game for Lucy, the finish on that first one was nice!
“It’s nice to have two up top to support one another but also to support the rest of the team and give us more opportunities to play the ball higher up the pitch.”
The fact she scored just once is the only blot on a copybook that was again filled with plenty of positives. It would have been easy to use the World Cup and all of the emotion that came with it as an excuse for lethargy or timidness at the start of a new campaign.
Instead Carusa, who turns 28 in November, appears to have used it as a springboard for making it very clear that she is the undoubted No.1 striker.
She fluffed her lines with an attempted backwards header in the six-yard that could have extended Ireland’s lead and she seemed to be slightly harder done by when her shot through the legs of Shannon Turner early after the interval looked to have crossed the line before it was cleared.
“Yeah, I was like ‘VAR!’ To be fair the goalkeeper came out and made it difficult. I thought putting it in between her legs would seal the deal but it’s grit and focus,” she explained of her thought process afterwards, and the fact VAR wasn’t in use for the game.
“A moment like that can happen and it can turn a forwards head down saying ‘it should have gone in’. But it’s never that, it’s always about the next play, forget it and move on to the next.”
Her moment of glory came in the 70th minute, an element of good fortune and perseverance paying off after giving the Northern Ireland backline a torrid time with her varied play; showing strength to show to feet and hold off challenges as well as finding space to get on the turn when debutant Caitlin Hayes stepped forward from the right side of the back three to fizz passes through the lines.
“Those are almost the hardest goals as a striker. The biggest thing as a striker is you just have to hunt the ball, if you see the goalkeeper coming out and the centre back is running at her, those two don’t want to be in a position like that,” she reasoned for her goal.
“You know they are ancy and when the ball pops out you have to be on it immediately. You have to be ready when the ball comes and I was happy to be there and put it in the back of the net.”
The nature of this performance, and victory, means the shadow of Vera Pauw will not be cast for long. It is a spectre that will no doubt lurk once a side attempting to do things differently suffer a blow, but Carusa’s faith is clear heading into the game with Hungary in Budapest on Tuesday.
“It’s fun. I think the bigger thing is that it’s nice to know the work we’re putting in and the dominance we put on a game, we’re coming in and playing a bit differently, trying to be more confident in our play.
“A game like this is something to add on to everything we have already developed over the week. We have class players on the field
“Playing in the World Cup then playing in this [stadium], you’re exposed to something that is crazy, the amount of fans, the preparation and professionalism. Honestly, going out here it felt like we were back in the World Cup, seas of green everywhere. It’s a really exciting thing.”