Peamount United crash out of Champions League against Spartak Subotica
File photo of Peamount United's Eleanor Ryan-Doyle. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Ireland’s Champions League representatives Peamount crashed out at the first hurdle as they had no answer to full-time outfit Spartak Subotica today.
The Serbian champions had a pair of Americans and Ghanaians in their ranks but it was home-produced striker Tijana Filipović who made the difference by scoring four, including a first-half hat-trick.
Alice Kusi threatened to turn the contest into a humiliation by adding a fifth with a half-hour still remaining but Eleanor Ryan-Doyle’s brace supplied a measure of consolation for the Peas.
GOAL | @peamountutd 1-5 @zfkspartak
— LOI Women (@LoiWomen) August 18, 2021
A direct free-kick from Eleanor Ryan-Doyle flies into the back of the net ⚽️#UWCL pic.twitter.com/UeSpKCMM2Y
In a revamp to facilitate the bigger leagues, Uefa opted this season to stage 15 mini-groups for their first stage. Peamount’s was hosted by FC Twente, with the home game held in Enschede.
They will face either the home side or FC Nike from Tbilisi in Saturday’s third-placed playoff.
Peamount, with Stephanie Roche leading the attack, looked well in the game until the ninth minute when Filipović slipped between the lines to collect the ball and fire a low shot into the bottom left corner from the edge of the box.
Milica Kostic then turned Sabhdh Doyle’s long-range shot around the post from Peamount’s best chance while Roche’s audacious lob was also thwarted by the goalkeeper.
In the first of many dubious decisions by the Romanian officials, Spartak were awarded a free-kick on 41 minutes which was taken quickly, allowing Filipović to slot home her second. She grabbed her hat-trick on the half-time whistle, breaching the offside trap to effectively kill off the game.
Peamount were left reeling and they were still ragged after the break as the Serbians hunted for more. Recent recruit Sandra Owusu-Ansah, a star for Ghana at the 2015 U20 World Cup, saw her shot crash off the underside of the crossbar before she crossed on 54 minutes for Filipović to almost walk the ball into the net.
It was 5-0 eight minutes later when Alice Kusi profited from Peamount’s failure to properly clear a right-wing centre and it seemed damage limitation was inevitable.
That wasn’t the case as James O’Callaghan’s side pushed forward, with Ryan-Doyle curling in an exquisite free-kick inside the near post to pull one back.
Naoise McAloon, preferred in goal to Niamh Reid-Burke, still had to produce a one-handed save to deny Milica Saric with six minutes left but the last act fell to Ryan-Doyle when she beat the offside trap to tuck away her second.
N McLoone; L O’Callaghan, T Ruddy, K Duggan, D Beirne; A O’Gorman, D Gorman, S Doyle (M Lynch 85), L Kelly; S Roche (A McEvoy 59), E Ryan-Doyle.
M Kostic; C Baltrip-Reyes, V Slovic, J Jackmon; A Kusi, Z Stupar, MR Fiedler, V Milivojevic, A Frajtovic; T Filipovic, S Owusa-Ansah.
Ana Maria Alexandra Terteleac (ROU).
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