Lily Agg an overnight star years in the making

The midfielder will be 29 before the year is out and injuries and delays saw her debut postponed until June when she scored the only goal in a 1-0 win against the Philippines

Sat, 03 Sep, 2022 - 07:55

Brendan O'Brien

Lily Agg has been busy making up for lost time. The London Lioness midfielder will be 29 before the year is out and her international bow with the Republic of Ireland was put back more than once after Vera Pauw was made belatedly aware about the player’s Cork connections.

Injuries and delays with her passport application – the latter courtesy of Covid – saw her debut postponed until June when she scored the only goal in a 1-0 win against the Philippines and she earned herself a place in Irish football history on Thursday with a header that secured a first ever World Cup playoff for the Girls in Green.

It’s all happened so fast. Eventually.

“Yeah, it took me a while to get my passport and get into the team,” she reflected after the 1-0 defeat of Finland in Tallaght. “I felt it would take a lot longer to become a big part of this team but yeah, I’m so grateful to be here.”

The goal, a second in just three caps, wasn’t the only contribution. Agg was on as a sub four minutes before the interval for the injured Ruesha Littlejohn and her hustle in defence and use of the ball going forward were critical components in Ireland shaking a nervy first-half from their system.

The goal itself was no surprise given the trouble the Finns have had defending crosses this last while but there was still work to be done as Megan Connolly’s looping free-kick landed in the area and the visiting goalkeeper hared out to clear. Agg admits she would have stayed down in the hope of earning a penalty had her header missed.

It didn’t.

Ireland, and football in general, has become a far more sophisticated endeavour these days. Sports science, diet, tactics, psychology and pitch maintenance have all taken leaps and bounds forwards but Agg is nothing but honest when asked if the crucial score owed something a brains trust and considered practise on the training field.

“Pffft!! Definitely not,” she admitted. “Not even in my dreams either. I just said to Tom (Elmes, assistant manager), ‘should I go in?’ The girls joke that I do win quite a lot in the air considering I’m not the tallest. I just said, ‘Tom, should I go in and switch with Jess (Ziu)?’

“I don’t think they knew that they had to mark me because I was so small and then I found myself at the back post and, yeah, took my chance. I was so surprised. I didn’t really see the keeper. I could hear her. I was just watching the flight of the ball, which seemed to be in the air for such a long time.”

Hers is one of those lovely subplots that sport does so well and her versatility suggests that she will have much more to do with the wider story arc as the team continues on the path to next year’s World Cup. Her own sense is that she is best used as an attacking midfielder but she played as a No.4 for her club last weekend and Pau likes her in the holding role.

It must be surreal to think that she has already cemented her place in Irish footballing folklore. It’s certainly a source of pride. Born and bred in Brighton, the Irish connection comes from her grandmother, the late Breda Greene who was from Cobh.

“My third cap and here we are! I’m just trying to lift the girls, work hard and play whatever role is needed. I set up all week to press the girls and make it difficult for them and then I got the chance … and here I am.”