McCabe's mix of supreme talent and tigerish endeavour on full show in Albania rout

Katie McCabe plays as if there is a constant point to prove, which is interesting considering no one tuning into Arsenal or Ireland games can doubt her supreme talent.

CLASS PERSONIFIED: Ireland’s Katie McCabe celebrates after scoring a hat-trick. Pic: ©INPHO/Tom Maher

Having talked the talk, no one can accuse Ireland of failing to walk the walk. 

Three games into the post-Vera era they faced their first, albeit brief, taste of adversity and overcame it thanks to the latest display of Katie McCabe brilliance.

She ended up with a hat-trick, provided the assist for both of Kyra Carusa’s goals and could easily have found the net a couple of more times in a performance of astounding quality. 

Thanks to McCabe, promotion to the Nations League top tier is within grasp halfway through and, on the evidence so far, the odds of them finishing with a 100% record should be very short indeed.

How much of that can be put down to facing weaker opposition is hard to measure. Albania brought their best but technical limitations were always going to be shown up against a team featuring one of the world’s best players. 

Above all this was another evening in which McCabe, at the peak of her powers, looked head and shoulders above the rest.

McCabe was everywhere and even when this result was secure, the 28-year-old was still snarling and battling. 

She plays as if there is a constant point to prove, which is interesting considering no one tuning into Arsenal or Ireland games can doubt her supreme talent.

The most notable aspect of McCabe’s work under interim head coach Eileen Gleeson is the additional sense of freedom she has been permitted. Again the caveat of distinctly average opponents must be considered but with fewer defensive responsibilities she is thriving to an ever greater extent.

During the World Cup there were moments where it felt like McCabe was forcing it a little bit, trying to do it all on the biggest stage. 

From wing-back, the sight of her trying to affect the game on the opposite side of the pitch looked rather perplexing. There are still moments where she overplays but such luxuries must be granted when the end result is so ruthless.

Her first goal, with just over three minutes on the clock, required a deft finish from close range after a heavy first touch but the ease with which she cut through a gap in the Albania defence was a mark of her own confidence.

The second was another long-ranger but required an element of luck at a time when Ireland’s general play looked stodgy, leaving Gleeson frustrated on the sideline. 

Having held off Megi Doci, the scorer of Albania’s equaliser with a clever finish, just outside the penalty area, McCabe took a stride before sending a trademark strike towards goal.

It appeared to be heading straight down the middle but took a heavy deflection on route and nestled in the bottom right corner.

Next came a pair of delicious assists. The first began after intercepting an Albania corner and she subsequently dribbled about 50 yards before providing a perfectly weighted through ball for Carusa to finish off. After that was a smashing cross from the left that landed straight on top of Carusa.

At that point, she took a shoot-on-sight policy in search of a second international hat-trick. A couple of efforts went wayward, two more were saved, but the crowning moment duly arrived with a finish of unmatched precision from a clever free-kick routine.

Around her, there were some decent performances. 

Carusa was anonymous for the opening period but produced two clinical finishes to end the contest. Abbie Larkin was busy and Denise O’Sullivan was tidy. Centurion Diane Caldwell played a couple of pinpoint long passes and the defence was unruffled save for the goal.

There were imperfections, too, kinks for Gleeson to iron out. 

Albania’s goal put an end to talk of Ireland going through the entire Nations League campaign without conceding; a talking point that always felt a little disrespectful one-third of the way through. 

At times the build-up play veered from patient to ponderous in the first half, while gaps in the visitors’ defence asking to be exploited were not.

When Albania folded early in the second half, though, Ireland’s class told. McCabe became more dominant, though she was theoretically moved to the left following substitutions, and a number of those around her appeared imbued with a similar freedom once a two-goal buffer appeared.

So to Albania, they go next for a reverse fixture on Tuesday with no shortage of belief that the 100% record will be maintained. 

McCabe could sit it out and attend Monday night’s Ballon d’Or bash, having been included on the shortlist of 30, but she will be in Shkoder. 

Still looking to prove a point when the whole world knows she’s first class.