Ireland put in a very good performance but ultimately was undone by super-sub Melvine Melards two second-half goals as France drew first blood in World Cup Qualification group A2.
Ireland started brightly – in the 3rd minute Emily Murphys run was checked by De Almeida which earned her a yellow card and Megan Connollys free kick had to be turned away by French Goalkeeper Constance Picaud. From the resulting corner Anna Patten could only force a header into Picauds hands.
In the 11th minute Emily Murphy broke free and forced a save from Picaud and a minute later better was to come from Ireland. A ball down the left side of the field from Katie McCabe to Emily Murphy was returned into the path of McCabe and Irish Captain into the last three or four months of her Arsenal contract fired across the goal and into the corner of the net delighting the Irish fans in attendance.
McCabe found herself in the referees book minutes later after slipping on the turf and catching her French opponent. France slowly began to dominate the possession without really forcing Brosnan into any meaningful save barring a weak shot from Oriane Jean-Francois that Brosnan had comfortably covered. Irelands defensive work throughout the half was immense but the suspicion
The second half began in a similar manner to the way the first half ended France dominating possession without too much end product. The only pressure on Brosnan in the opening stages was a slight miscommunication with her defenders but the ball was played off her French Opponent and behind. Instead it was Ireland who created the more clear opportunity in the opening stages of the second half with Caitlin Hayes forcing a massive save out of Picoud than had the goalkeeper scrambling across goal to keep Hayes’s header out. It proved a turning point in the game. Ireland followed that up with O’Sullivan attempting an audacious flick that had Picaud reaching underneath her crossbar to keep it out.
The key moment in the game occurred in the sixty eighth minute when Melvine Melard made her introduction and within a minute she had scored exploiting a gap between midfield and defence and jinking past a couple of players at the edge of the box before firing past Brosnan into the right hand corner. Eight minutes later and she had a second, Ireland unable to clear their lines from a cross by Baltimore and Malard poked it home into the right hand corner past Brosnan.
Ireland pushed forward seeking a grandstand finish and had a couple of penalty shouts waved away by referee Olofsson. A couple of corners in the last couple of minutes saw Brosnan come forward and the scramble saw an O’Sullivan shot force Katoto into a goal line clearance and Irelands last chance was gone. Overall a performance the Girls in Green can take heart from and once they have picked themselves up from this sucker-punch they can look to the game against the Netherlands at the weekend with real confidence.
Republic of Ireland: Brosnan, Mannion, Connolly (Barrett 85), Hayes, Mustafa, Sheva, Patten, O’Sullivan, Murphy, Carusa (Larkin 69), Murphy
France: Picaud, Morroni (Malard 68), Lakrar, Samoura, De Almeida (N’Dongela 68), Geyoro, Jean-Francois (Ebayillin 86), Karachaoui, Diani (Sombath 86), Mateo, Baltimore
