THE REPUBLIC OF Ireland women’s goalkeeping dilemma is one that has been debated plenty over the past few weeks and months, but Courtney Brosnan certainly quietened it down last night.

The US-born shot-stopper not only justified her selection, but went above and beyond that and was named Player of the Match in the Girls In Green’s opening World Cup qualifier defeat to Sweden.

Everton ‘keeper Brosnan got the nod to start ahead of Grace Moloney, the pair dueling for the number one jersey of late. Moloney is Reading’s long-established number one in the Women’s Super League, while Brosnan is second choice to Sandy MacIver at the Toffees, having just recently made her debut since her summer switch from West Ham.

The 25-year-old New Jersey native has also been at the centre of a couple of high-profile errors on international duty, but there were no such signs of the likes last night. It was a confident, assured display, in which she pulled off several top-drawer saves.

There was nothing she could do about the own goal; a truly unfortunate one after Stina Blackstenius’ shot deflected off Louise Quinn.

Overall, Brosnan was pleased with the collective effort, and her own individual one.

“I think obviously we can be really proud of ourselves today,” she said afterwards.

“It’s a tough Sweden team and I think everyone worked really hard and everyone did their job.

Obviously unfortunate with the goal, but I’m proud with how I came out and played so I’ve just got to do my best to try to help the team and keep moving forward in the campaign.

“I’ve been working really hard so it’s nice to see that come across in a game with a good performance.

“We work really hard as a goalkeeper union every day in training and I think it’s doing our best; whatever the team needs, whatever to help the team to get the result, so that’s just what I try to do whenever I come out here and play.”

With young fans behind her screaming for her jersey as she spoke to the media, Brosnan hailed the sell-out crowd that pushed Vera Pauw’s side all the way.

“It’s absolutely amazing to be back here,” she smiled. “I think the crowd was 4,000 or something like that, there’s nothing like playing in front of the Irish fans. We definitely heard them and it helped us push forward, especially at the end when everyone’s so tired.”

How the Girls In Green battled down the home straight is one of “lots of positives” the side can take, Brosnan added.

Especially with the focus switching so quickly to a tussle with Group A’s second seeds, Finland, at Helsinki Olympic Stadium on Tuesday.

What we need to do is just take those positives and bring that into Finland in the next few days. Just keep pushing forward in the campaign. Obviously Sweden’s ranked number two in the world for a reason. Pushing on at the end, we definitely had them scrambling, so that’s something that we can use to give us confidence going forward.

“Obviously it’s a quick turnaround with travel but we’re all working hard and just doing our best to be ready for Finland.”

Asked what the difference of late has been — Ireland enjoyed a 3-2 friendly win over Australia last month, and showed progress beforehand despite a seven-game losing run — Brosnan concluded: “I think it’s just sometimes things take time.

“We’re all working hard gelling together and things like that, I think it’s just buying in — we can see we have great players, it’s just having that belief and confidence in ourselves to get these results and have a positive campaign.”

Bernard Jackman, Murray Kinsella, and Gavan Casey discuss Ireland’s squad, women’s rugby reviews, and the Tadhg Beirne incident on The42 Rugby Weekly:

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