Ireland 0-2 England
Hello, and welcome to tonight’s liveblog.
It is without a doubt one of the most high-profile women’s football matches ever played in Dublin with a crowd of over 30,000 fans expected.
Ireland will be going into this game in hope rather than expectation against the side ranked second in the world.
Eileen Gleeson’s team badly need something from this game having lost Friday’s opener in France, while England had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Sweden.
Kick-off is at 7.30pm.
There are two changes to Ireland’s starting XI. Quinn and Littlejohn come in for Connolly and Murphy.
STARTING XI | Ireland v England
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England have made five changes to their starting XI…
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We’re underway…
3 mins: As expected, England are dominating possession in the early stages.
As I type though, Ireland win a corner after Carusa’s attempted cross is deflected out.
4 mins: Hampton catches McCabe’s delivery from a corner.
You get the sense set pieces are likely to be crucial if Ireland have any chance of pulling off an unlikely victory.
8 mins: Half-chance for England.
Lauren James’ cross from the right finds the head of Ella Toone, but the tame effort is easily gathered by Brosnan.
IRELAND 0-1 ENGLAND (JAMES 12)
England take the lead.
The Irish defence don’t really deal with Keira Walsh’s initial cross.
It deflects kindly for James, who hammers it home from the edge of the area to give the visitors the advantage.
PENALTY TO ENGLAND!
IRELAND 0-2 ENGLAND (GREENWOOD 18)
McCable heads clear a cross.
It falls to Park, whose subsequent volley hits off Littlejohn’s hand and the ref points to the spot.
Greenwood then sends Brosnan the wrong way to double England’s advantage.
Here’s a look at the opening goal…
🇮🇪 0-1 🏴
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Sloppy from Ireland defensively as England make the breakthrough courtesy of Lauren James
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And here’s the penalty decision and second goal…
🇮🇪 0-1 🏴
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Ruesha Littlejohn is penalsied for handball inside the Irish penalty area in attempting to block Jess Park's shot
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🇮🇪 0-2 🏴
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No mistake from the spot from Alex Greenwood who doubles England's advantage
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PENALTY TO ENGLAND!
Russo gets to Hemp’s cross and her volley deflects off Quinn’s arm.
A disastrous start for Ireland.
PENALTY MISSED BY GREENWOOD!
Her effort hits off the inside of the post and trickles wide.
One of the few lucky breaks that Ireland have benefited from so far.
Here’s a look at that second penalty decision and Greenwood’s miss.
🇮🇪 0-2 🏴
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 9, 2024
Ireland concede a second penalty of the half as Louise Quinn is judged by the referee to have deliberatly handballed
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🇮🇪 0-2 🏴
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Justice served? Alex Greenwood can't repeat the penalty trick as her effort comes off the post
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37 mins: It’s been a pretty dispiriting half from an Irish perspective.
The opening two goals haven’t really changed the pattern of play.
England continue to dominate possession and territory.
Ireland can’t keep the ball, with Hampton a virtual bystander in this first half.
44 mins: Ireland need to be careful they don’t get too loose.
A stray McCabe pass has put them under pressure, but Russo is then flagged offside after being played through on goal by James.
HALF-TIME: IRELAND 0-2 ENGLAND
So that’s that for the first 45.
A fairly one-sided first half in the away side’s favour, unfortunately.
England dominated and except for Greenwood’s penalty miss have been clinical when afforded opportunities.
Ireland have offered very little from an attacking perspective and have been wasteful on the rare occasions they’ve had set pieces in good areas.
Megan Connolly is doing a fairly strenuous warm-up on the pitch at half-time and it looks likely she will be coming on imminently.
A change for Ireland at half-time has been confirmed.
Megan Connolly is on in place of Ruesha Littlejohn.
The second half has begun…
50 mins: Better from Ireland at the start of the second half.
They’re pressing England higher and seeing more of the ball in the opposition half.
56 mins: England make a double change.
Jessica Park and Lauren Hemp are off.
Fran Kirby and Beth Mead are on.
England haven’t created many chances in this second half, but they’ve largely controlled it, which makes for tedious enough viewing these last minutes.
One of Ireland’s biggest problems is that on the rare occasions they get the ball, they are too anxious and eager to play the killer pass and consequently, give it right back to the visitors all the time.
61 mins: Double change for Ireland.
Heather Payne and Lucy Quinn are replaced by Leanne Kiernan and Megan Campbell.
63 mins: Straight away Megan Campbell hurls a long throw into the English area.
However, it’s cleared easily enough.
Campbell has such good technique that it’s almost as dangerous as a corner when a throw-in is anywhere near the box.
As I type, Walsh has to head another one out for a corner and all of a sudden, the crowd come alive with excitement.
66 mins: England go very close to adding a third.
Ireland get caught trying to play out from the box before Bronze’s deep cross is headed down by Mead but Kirby can’t convert the volley from close range as Brosnan gets down well to make save.
Meanwhile, Ireland make another change, as Carusa is replaced by Emily Murphy.
73 mins: With a little under 20 minutes of normal time to go, Ireland still have yet to register any kind of shot and have had just 24% possession.
It’s been a dour second half, with England also ostensibly taking their foot off the pedal to a degree.
75 mins: Another England change.
Georgia Stanway replaces Ella Toone.
77 mins: Kiernan wins a free kick after a Campbell long throw causes chaos in the England box.
The London City Lionesses defender has only been on the field a few minutes but has been Ireland’s best attacking outlet.
Moments later, McCabe’s delivery from a set piece finds Quinn, who volleys it low across the area but no Irish player can get on the end of it.
The attendance has been confirmed as 32,742.
That falls narrowly short of the record for a women’s game in Dublin, which was 35,944 when the Republic played Northern Ireland back in September.
83 mins: Louise Quinn is now playing as a striker as Ireland try to rescue something from the game.
It’s a strong finish from the hosts.
As I type, the head of Hayes connects with McCabe’s cross, but it’s straight at Hampton.
The more direct approach is certainly causing England some problems.
85 mins: Bizarre moment! McCabe blocks down Hampton’s attempted kick-out. She then runs to the loose ball but can’t beat the goalkeeper with her disappointing finish.
Meanwhile, England make a double change. Lauren James and Alessia Russo are replaced by Chloe Kelly and Rachel Daly.
There will be four minutes of stoppage time…
Having not registered a single shot for the first 70 minutes, Ireland have now had four shots in the last 20 minutes, two of which have been on target and they are up to 29% possession.
Meanwhile, Katie McCabe has been announced as the official player of the match.
FULL-TIME: IRELAND 0-2 ENGLAND
So that’s that.
If Ireland had started as strongly as they had finished, they might have had a chance of getting something from that game.
England were deserving winners as they dominated the majority of the contest, capitalising on a couple of first-half errors to leave their rivals with a mountain to climb.
The most disappointing aspect for Gleeson will probably be how toothless her side looked in the first 70 minutes.
However, the hosts appeared much more threatening as the match approached its climax.
The substitutes made an impact, and Megan Campbell’s long throws and a more direct approach in general gave Ireland a few nervy moments at the back.
Against world-class opposition, the hosts might go away with a few regrets but they certainly didn’t disgrace themselves either with every player working tirelessly in what has undoubtedly been the biggest test of the Gleeson era so far.
Right, that’s all from me for now.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
We’ll have more reaction on the site shortly.
