Full-time: Republic of Ireland 0-2 Norway
Good evening, and welcome along to a sun-kissed Tallaght Stadium. The Republic of Ireland Women’s side face fellow qualification hopefuls Norway in the first of a double-header before Tuesday’s away game.
Colin Bell’s side are still in the hunt for a place at the Women’s World Cup — an achievement that would be a first for the Girls in Green.
Kick-off is just 15 minutes away now and the teams are coming right up.
Here’s the Ireland starting line-up:
Kick-off - We’re underway and straight away Ireland are on the attack, but the ball is nicked off Katie McCabe.
6 mins – We’ve had a fast-paced start to the game, with Ireland pressing their opponents high up the field.
The Girls in Green are lining out in a 4-5-1 with Perry-Campbell, Caldwell, Quinn and O’Gorman across the back, a midfield trio of Duggan, Toland and Fahey, while O’Sullivan and McCabe occupy the wings.
That leaves Leanne Kieran to lead the line.
12 mins – A Norway attack down the right sees Caroline Graham Hansen shoot into the side-netting.
13 mins – This time, the visitors test Marie Hourihan as Guro Reiten finds the target from 20 yards but the Ireland goalkeeper is equal to it.
17 mins – Best chance of the evening so far and it has fallen to Norway. Graham Hansen’s ball across the box was cut out by Caldwell. It runs to the penalty spot, where Ingrid Syrstad Engen shoots over the bar.
21 mins – GOAL! Republic of Ireland 0-1 Norway
We have the opening goal of the game and it’s the away side who find the back of the net. Guro Reiten’s corner is lofted into the danger area and Lisa-Marie Utland gets her head onto it to direct the ball home.
28 mins – Ireland have responded well by stringing a number of passes together in the opposing half. O’Gorman earns a throw in the far corner, but it comes to nothing and Norway clear their lines.
Down the other end, Frida Maanum blasts over.
30 mins – Off the bar! The Norwegians threaten again as Reiten’s shot is initially blocked by Perry-Campbell. The same player follows up and drives at goal. Hourihan gets a fingertip to the strike to push it onto the crossbar.
Meanwhile, Quinn is down receiving treatment after a bang to the head.
35 mins – Yellow card – O’Sullivan goes on a magnificent run out of defence to ease the pressure and gets taken down by Graham Hansen inside the Norway half. The midfielder goes into the referee’s book.
That free-kick is put into the box and after a few half-clearances, McCabe goes down under a challenge. It’s waved on, however.
37 mins – Substitution: That’s the end of Quinn’s night and the Arsenal defender is coming off after failing to fully recover from that head injury. Claire O’Riordan is on in her place.
44 mins – Yet another chance for Norway as Reiten curls a free-kick from deep towards the back post and Herlovsen heads over.
Half-time: Republic of Ireland 0-1 Norway
46 mins – Second half: The game has restarted. No changes on either side for now.
49 mins – That’s a golden opportunity for Ireland! Kiernan breaks on the counter-attack with a direct run from her own half. Leaving three Norwegian players in her wake, the Shelbourne striker does excellently but her shot at Ingrid Hjelmseth was a tame one.
58 mins – It remains 1-0 to Norway here, but Ireland aren’t out of this one just yet. Both Amber Barrett and Rianna Jarrett are warming up on the touchline and we’re likely to see at least one of the back-up strikers shortly.
61 mins – GOAL! Republic of Ireland 0-2 Norway (Lisa-Marie Utland)
There’s a second. Another Reiten free-kick was knocked on by Syrstad Engan and Utland had a simple finish from close range.
70 mins - Substitutions on both sides as Ireland bring on Amber Barrett for Fahey, while the injured Caroline Graham Hansen comes off with Vilde Boe Risa taking her place.
76 mins – Another Norwegian change as goalscorer Utland is off for Elise Thorsnes.
81 mins – Norway break in numbers after an Ireland free-kick, but Herlovsen’s shot at Hourihan is weak.
91 mins – One late chance for Ireland, but Duggan volleys over after arriving late to connect with a cross.
Full-time: Republic of Ireland 0-2 Norway
What an achievement . Some great stuff to look for
Delighted. Was a great decision by the IRFU/Nucifora to start taking the 7′s seriously and hopefully now can qualify for the Olympics. COYBIG.
@Elliott Sheerin: It was a questionable decision why it took them so long to get involved in the first place. We were conspicuous by our absence.
@thegreatdefector: And it appears to be to the detriment of the Wolfhounds which is unfortunate.
@thegreatdefector: true but that was decision made by the Irfu before nuciforas time. He brought it back
What an achievement from this 7’s side. In the space of 4 years coming from the lowest levels of 7’s rugby to now having the opportunity to mix it up with the big boys on the biggest stage is an outstanding feat. Everyone behind the scenes deserves a incredible amount of credit for getting this great bunch of players to the top end of 7’s rugby. Conroy is a special talent he’ll give the Fijians, New Zealanders etc some major headaches. On a side note a uplifting day for the Leavy family too, Dan will be so proud of his younger brother. Another Irish team to be very proud of.
@Ian Verdon: well said!
@Ian Verdon: couldn’t have said it better myself. Some fantastic players on that team. They were solid throughout in what is a very difficult tournament. Some set of wheels on Conroy, can’t wait to see them against the big boys.
Fantastic achievement after years of grafting and the heartbreak of a last-minute qualifier loss in 2018. The Irish team showed real resilience to overcome a very physical German team in the semi-finals and great defence in the final.
The World Sevens Series is a great watch, even without Ireland in it, so it’s good to see us join the party while creating more opportunities for players to play rugby professionally in Ireland.
Can we now have a domestic program put in place to develop kids please. No underage competitors for youths currently.
@kieran horgan: lovely idea but where do you get coaching resources from and how are you going to manage the conflict at club level where clubs are struggling to fill underage sides at 15.
@Michael Murray: from what I see of clubs at home a lot of underage competitions finish in March. Why not use rest of March and April to play provincial 7s competitions and perhaps end it with an All Ireland 7s festival to go alongside the Kinsale 7s on May bank holiday if there was room there.
@Brendan ‘fox’ O’ Sullivan: was gonna say this. A lot of people play league in the off-season in order to keep playing rugby. 7s is far more entertaining than league and could easily overtake it as a summer time game.
@Brendan ‘fox’ O’ Sullivan: March April May or else play festivals during summer. Plenty of options.
@Michael Murray: How many clubs are struggling to field at 15s level? 7s should be used to develop players as well and could be excellent way in Dublin for clubs to keep ties with kids who normally while in secondary school if in likes of Blackrock, Terenure etc will rarely play club rugby if ever
Deadly!!
Great result for Ireland, will be brilliant to see them play on the big stage from next year. Here is hoping they continue to develop the 7s game with the provincial academies in Ireland. They will need to develop a strong squad to last through a full season. I remember seeing Adam Byrne play a 7s tournament in Dubai a few years ago he was immense, the 7s can really be beneficial for young players. Have been to the Dubai 7s twice and it is a brilliant weekend Hong Kong is definitely on the bucket list
@Brendan ‘fox’ O’ Sullivan: Do you think the IRFU will push for Dublin to be a host nation sometime in the future. It seems like a tournament that would be well received and attended in Dublin for the Irish and the visitors.
@David Staed: I think the cities for the next 3 year’s have been locked in but definitely after that. I watch a lot of 7s and atmosphere looks great in each city it goes to.
Forward to now with the World Series
Such a tight game against Germany and then a bit of a mismatch in the final!
Well done lads.
@gavin cooney , lazy journalism for your description under the articles picture . The “teammate” in question is Harry McNulty a player who has been there from the very beginning hence why I would imagine he is so emotional, he also scored in the game .
@Luke O’Mahony: you spelt Foster Horan wrong
Ireland should put more focus on the 7s, its an Olympic sport and given our long history of failure at 15 a side rugby on a global level maybe we need to take a fresh approach. Next aim for these guys is Olympic qualification which is actually very difficult given the system that is in place. It would help if England could make it into the top 4 of the World Series as we wouldnt have to compete against them for the only European spot but the likelihood is that we will be up against themselves, France and Spain for that spot as well as teams like Germany and Russia
@Frank Scanlon: Frank, Ireland have a long history, over 100 years, of success in what you call 15 a side rugby.
@Locojoe: I said success on a global level, please point out what Ireland have achieved on a global scale in 15 a side rugby? Never made it beyond World Cup quarter finals, the only major rugby playing nation never to do so, even Argentina which could hardly be considered a rugby nation have made a couple of semis. Our record is embarassing. Better to invest in 7s from the ground up, get more kids playing it instead of 15 a side, its far better to watch anyway and maybe we might win something
@Frank Scanlon: so making a quarter final in a World Cup isn’t an achievement? You do know only 4 country’s have ever one the World Cup in its entire history, as well as Guinness Book of Records proving New Zealand are the most dominant team of any professional sport in the world.
I can remember when i was younger i wanted to play it but there was literally nothing in place. It looked like a good challenge but i was the only person i knew who wanted to play
Found this link to the match https://youtu.be/bJNnECd-iBk
@Accounting Pro: sorry this is better https://youtu.be/DEyBc5YjxKQ