Pauw 'hurt' but full of hope after Brosnan error costs Ireland in the US
SINKING FEELING: Ireland’s goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan is beaten by a shot from Alana Cook of USA
An error from goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan cost Ireland dearly as their two-match Stateside tour ended on a losing note in St. Louis on Tuesday night. But much like on Saturday in Texas there were so many positives to take towards a maiden World Cup that is now 99 days away.
Vera Pauw’s side had turned in a superb first-half display at CityPark, slick in approach play and creating problems while solid in defence and, in some areas, moving up a gear even from Saturday’s performance.
But so much of that good work was undone just a couple of minutes before the interval when Brosnan badly misjudged a hopeful punt from fully 45 yards by Alana Cook. The defender’s effort floated beyond Brosnan’s back-pedalling grasp and was enough to see the US home.
Kyra Carusa, such a spark leading the line in that first half, had probably the best look at an equaliser but dragged a late effort into the side netting. For Pauw this was another night that showed her side belong on these kinds of stages, frustrating the World Cup holders on their own turf. Yet there was regret too.
“This one hurts because we have done so well. It’s a friendly so winning and losing is not really the major thing. But if you lose in this way after doing so well against the world champions then of course it hurts,” said Pauw, who saw her side’s low block snuff out US attacks and wing backs Katie McCabe and Heather Payne find joy going the other way. Marissa Sheva had another impressive night of work too. All across the field there were strong displays.
“If you see how we played and how in times of the game they couldn’t handle us, how we used the spaces, we have made a huge jump in this camp. I had said before you need to play the highest opposition to do that.You don’t know ahead of time if you’ll manage but we played with guts which was one of the key things that we came here for. You only improve if you have the guts to fail.”
Pauw stayed true to her promise to make full use of the chance of a second stern test for her front line and made just two changes with Sinead Farrelly and Aoife Mannion rested. Ruesha Littlejohn and Lucy Quinn came into midfield with Megan Connolly moving into the back three. Vlatko Andonovski didn’t quite make the 10 changes hinted at but did shuffle heavily with teenager Alyssa Thompson, called up after Mallory Swanson’s injury in Austin, starting.
On a gorgeous spring evening in the Midwest, Ireland began brightly. Within a minute Quinn, was on the end of a wonderfully fluid move after Carusa had linked play very well.
But there was an almighty early scare at the other end too when the Americans hit the woodwork after just three minutes. Coach Vlatko Andonovski had said that his team had worked on set piece routines specifically to get captain Becky Sauerbrunn a first international goal after 13 years and 200-plus caps on Saturday in Austin but Ireland had snuffed them out.
Here the visitors were completely switched off as Sauerbrunn stormed from deep to crash a free header off Brosnan’s crossbar. It was a let off and Ireland looked like they knew it as they busily got back to building things at the other end.
Carusa’s hold-up play was really impressing and Marissa Sheva was just as productive. Littlejohn brought bite into the middle and the passing accuracy from Pauw’s side was much improved from Saturday. But American danger lurks constantly and Diane Caldwell’s hesitation on 16 minutes was almost punished when Thompson was found in the box and wriggled wide open but elected to pass to Sophia Smith who fired over.
Otherwise Ireland were absorbing pressure and dealing with the hosts’ threats. Brosnan, cruelly given what followed, was having such a solid evening commanding her area and marshalling the back three, cutting out a dangerous Lindsey Horan ball on the half hour. Even as the US turned the screw Ireland weren’t buckling. Which made the opener all the more frustrating.
Just two minutes before the interval a US corner had been comfortably dealt with. The ball broke to Cook who punted one deep. Brosnan stepped forward initially and it would prove pivotal as she rapidly back-pedalled but saw the ball go beyond her grasp and into the net.
Having been undone by a couple of needless lapses in concentration in Texas on Saturday, this one would have been even more infuriating. It’s not hyperbole to suggest Ireland were just a couple of minutes away from completing their best half of football under Pauw when the opener arrived.
Having already removed Sauerbrunn on the half hour, Andonovski shuffled some more at half time making four changes but Pauw resisted making any changes. After over two hours of tense, absorbing football in the space of four days, it was hardly a surprise that the second half proved to be lower on cohesion and quality.
Outlets for an equaliser came from set pieces but a 56th minute corner almost proved Ireland’s undoing when Casey Kreuger broke and raced clear. Littlejohn tracked her past halfway and then hauled her down for the game’s only booking. That sparked Pauw into action and she removed Littlejohn and Caldwell to finally add some fresh legs, Ciara Grant and Hayley Nolan coming in.
While the hosts’ strength in depth is clear, Ireland weren’t given too many defensive headaches. In what was a tepid, disjointed battle now, O’Sullivan’s class shone through, the midfielder finding time and space where there was none. Her burst forward created the half’s best opening on 84 minutes when Carusa somehow found the legs to latch on to O’Sullivan’s pass but stretch to shoot and found the side netting.
At the full-time whistle exhausted Ireland players slumped to the floor. It was a night that showed how far they’d come but at the same time left them wondering what might have been. Pauw had only praise for Brosnan.
“Everyone said how fantastically she has played. Yes, of course, we’re all gutted about the goal and Courtney in the first place but let’s see all the fantastic saves and how she played throughout this week,” said the manager who now faces in to the final stretch with more foot for thought but great confidence than before too.
“There are so much positives coming out of this camp,” she said. “The jump we have made now I have never perceived in any team that I have coached.”
Murphy; Huerta, Cook, Sauerbrunn (Davidson 28), O’Hara (Krueger HT); Sanchez, Horan (Mewis 59), Sullivan (Ertz HT); Thompson, Morgan (Hatch HT), Smith (Rodman HT).
Cook (43)
Brosnan; Payne (O’Hanlon 84), Connolly, Quinn, Caldwell (Nolan 58), McCabe; Quinn (McLaughlin 69), O’Sullivan, Littlejohn (Grant 58), Sheva (O’Gorman 69); Carusa (Barrett 84).
Littlejohn, Connolly
Crystal Sobers (TRI)
22,294
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
