The greening of Amber Barrett

It’s been quite the introduction to senior international football for Amber Barrett, the Peamount United striker who only made her debut when coming off the bench last September in Ireland’s opening World Cup qualifier, a two-nil away win against Northern Ireland.

That was quickly followed by her first start, another two-nil win on the road, this time in Slovakia, and then came the big one in November, the 22-year-old from Milford in Donegal again getting to play her part as the Irish secured a celebrated scoreless draw away to European champions Holland.

Not surprisingly, that against-all-the-odds point has given manager Colin Bell’s team a huge shot of self-belief as they prepare for next week’s back to back home qualifiers against the Slovaks and the Dutch.