Wales and Ireland drew 1-1 in the first leg of their European Championship play off on Friday night. Wales welcomed Ireland to the Cardiff City Stadium in front of a record Welsh crowd of 16,845 with both sides looking to qualify for their first ever European Championships at the other’s expense.
Ireland rang in the changes from the side that beat Georgia in their previous match. Eileen Gleeson opted to start started with players who’d had limited minutes so far this season, with Niamh Fahey and Ruesha Littlejohn coming into the starting eleven while similarly their opponents started with Hayley Ladd in defence whose only featured in six WSL minutes for Manchester United so far this season. Jess Fishlock also returned to the Welsh line-up after coming on in the second half against Slovakia. Ireland and Wales operated with a five at the back, looking to ensure that neither team would be susceptible to an overload on either side.
The Line ups:
WAL: Clark, Woodham, Evans, Ladd, Roberts, Holland, James, Fishlock, Rowe, Griffiths, Morgan
IRL: Brosnan, Payne, Fahey, Hayes, Patten, McCabe, Agg, Littlejohn, O’Sullivan, Russell, Carusa
The Action:
A spine tingling rendition of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau got the Welsh crowd bouncing before kick off while the travelling Irish support responded with a rendition of Olé Olé Olé and with that we were ready for the action to get underway. In the first few minutes nerves showed on both sides with a couple of early passes going a stray. Ireland seemed to settle quicker and earned the first half-chance of the game, a wonderful cushioned header from Carusa bounced to the feet of Russell whose shot was wildly miscued. The early pressure continued to build and after a missed interception from Lily Woodham, Carusa had the chance to run at the Welsh defence but her near post ball to Russell was ushered wide.
However it was the home side who would take the lead against the run of play just before the 20 minute mark, an intelligent ball from Holland found the bright run of Fishlock who was released to run in behind the Irish defence for the first time. Her drilled cross missed the run of Ffion Morgan but took a deflection and crucially found Lily Woodham arriving late in the box who powerfully toe-poked the ball past Courtney Brosnan.
Ireland looked to counter with Heather Payne and Denise O’Sullivan combining well on the right but Wales seemed wisely content to contain Ireland in the minutes after they took the lead. Ireland tried for force the initiative in their favour pushing high up the pitch when Wales were in possession.
Fishlock was less involved here than she had been against Slovakia but when she got on the ball she was making the difference. With the game drawing closer to half time Ireland began fashioning opportunities and a wonder-goal from Littlejohn had Ireland on level terms. Littlejohn took the ball on the edge of the box and blasted it looping towards the Welsh goal, Oliva Clark did well to get a hand on it but could only palm it onto the crossbar, the ball bounced back off the unfortunate Clark’s head and into the back of the net.
The second half kicked off with one change for Ireland as Marisa Sheva was introduced in place of Lily Agg while Wales introduced Carrie Jones for Alice Griffiths: Attacking changes from both sides. The first chance of the second half fell to Morgan, opening up her body outside the box she was only able to direct the ball wide. On a chilly night in the Welsh capital the second half took some time to warm up. But it was Wales who looked more likely once it did, applying pressure with corner after corner. Ceri Holland’s pin-point delivery was starting to cause some issues for Gleeson’s charges. One ball was swung into the box by Holland met by the head of Rhiannon Roberts whose header was blocked by Littlejohn.
A free-kick just outside the box from Fishlock was well caught by Brosnan down to her right. Ireland looked to cause problems of their own for Wales with 15 minutes remaining. Tireless running from Russell again offered the opportunity to O’Sullivan down the same side that Ireland had conceded from in the first half. O’Sullivan’s ball found Sheva who did well to adjust her feet and get a shot away, winning a corner for the visitors. From the resulting set piece, taken short, McCabe looped the ball to the back post where Carusa kept it alive and her looping header fell to Caitlin Hayes on the half volley whose wicked effort was brilliantly saved by the FC Twente goalkeeper to keep the scores level.
Wales continued to pressure Ireland for large parts of the second half as Ireland appeared content to take a draw back to Dublin with them. Wales had late hope on the breakaway as Ashleigh Barton flashed a flashed the ball across the box but the ball evaded all those in Welsh red attempting to threaten. Despite both sides late efforts, the game ended even with everything to play for in Dublin on Tuesday night with a spot at EURO 2025 on the line.
The Halfway Line Player of the Match: Ruesha Littlejohn – Littlejohn pulled it out of the fire when Ireland were on the back foot with a sensational goal. The London City Lionesses midfielder justified her manager’s faith in her, despite only playing limited minutes this season. She was composed on the ball and defensively sound, the mature performance Ireland needed.
