THAT A PLAYER of Leanne Kiernan’s standard is held in reserve shows the quality in the Republic of Ireland squad.
Liverpool’s star striker has started just twice competitively under Vera Pauw’s watch — last in September 2020 — but gave a reminder of her class through a brief cameo in Tuesday’s final 2023 World Cup qualifier win in Slovakia.
Kiernan, 23, was an established starter under Colin Bell, but her senior international career hasn’t been just as fruitful of late.
Injury struggles have played their part, but the lightning-quick goal-scorer has been afforded little opportunity to hit the heights of a few short years back.
The 27-cap Cavan native was sprung from the bench in Tuesday’s all-important 1-0 victory and looked lively as she replaced Heather Payne up top, bringing no shortage of energy and hunger.
“I’ve never seen her so sharp as this week,” Pauw said afterwards.
“We know that when we put her on before and didn’t get it out of her, but this week she was so sharp and good that we chose her and she did really well. She understood now how we keep our pressure on, and push them back. That was the reason we needed her. She did fantastic.”
Her introduction was called for on social media and her impact, in turn, hailed; another shot in the arm for Kiernan after a big week in which she signed a new deal on Merseyside.
Thank you! Now back to business ♥️
— Leanne Kiernan (@kiernan_leanne) September 6, 2022
Wexford Youths teenager Ellen Molloy was Pauw’s other substitute in Senec, while several others were handed auditions ahead of the play-offs.
Claire O’Riordan was one, a defensive reshuffle forced due to injury and suspension absentees. One year on from an horrific ankle break, the Celtic player made her first competitive start since September 2019.
“She was good,” Pauw smiled. “She steps in in a very difficult moment, with a lot of pressure on her and I am so proud that she has done the job.”
18 players were used across the this double-header — the evergreen Megan Campbell and Harriet Scott also made long-awaited returns, as Lily Agg really impressed against Finland when she replaced the injured Ruesha Littlejohn.
Four other regular starters joined the Aston Villa midfielder on the absentee list for Slovakia — Megan Connolly, Niamh Fahey (injury) and Jamie Finn (suspension) — the squad’s strength in depth shining through.
“I explained it before that [assistant coach] Tom Elmes takes the opposition team [non-starters] and the tasks are clear. When tasks are clear, everybody can execute them over a certain level. All the players are more or less on the same level,” Pauw enthused.
“We’ve got quality in this team, you can see that,” captain Katie McCabe added, name-checking a handful of players from Jess Ziu to Denise O’Sullivan.
“It’s not just me you have to worry about per se… it’s the lot of us.
“We’ve got depth now within this team, that’s down to the girls and all their hard work over the campaign. We’re here to challenge and we really want to make a major tournament.
“But we need to keep our feet firmly on the ground. We know we’ve got a big game to go in the second round of the play-offs.”
O’Riordan also referenced that depth and the ever-increasing healthy competition post-match. “Everyone has the capabilities to play. We showed that in this camp. Jess Ziu, unbelievable today, and the girls that came on, Leanne, Ellen, myself and Harriet having to step in for this game. The depth in the bench is really important.”
May the auditions continue.
