Four-midable Ireland blow Greece away with second-half surge
Ireland’s Kyra Carusa celebrates scoring her side's second goal. Pic: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
Transferring Ireland’s second-half dominance against Greece is imperative for Tuesday’s rematch at Tallaght.
Last month’s 4-0 humbling by Slovenia plummeted top seeds Ireland into catch-up mode in this Nations League group and their demise was being predicted when the limited hosts held them scoreless at the break.
The Greek Gods weren’t necessary for the Irish, only the intervention of captain Kaie McCabe, whose half-time arrival got Ireland out of a rut in Greece and smoothed their way to resounding victory.
Carla Ward kept quiet about her skipper’s calf knock sustained in Arsenal’s Champions League win over Real Madrid until the teams were named, restricting her role to substitute.
“We knew Katie had 45 minutes in her and we could have started her but I decided to go the other way,” explained Ward about managing the skipper’s game-time.
She won’t have to balance that on Tuesday because another yellow card incurred for McCabe, her second in three games, sees her serve a one-match ban.
A turgid first-half performance under the sun in Crete, during which the pointless hosts conjured the better chances, meant activating the back-up plan, and it worked within four minutes.
Marissa Sheva was the other half of the double interval change and the American took aim after McCabe’s deep free-kick wasn’t cleared by the Greek defence.
Her opportunism in shooting from 20 yards was rewarded as the effort nicked off captain Eleni Markou to zip past wrong-footed goalkeeper Zoi Nasi.
McCabe, despite a needless booking, continued to impose herself on the attack and was directly involved in the second just past the hour.
Her left-wing cross landed perfectly for Leanne Kiernan to sidefoot her volley across goal.
Although Nasi kept the attempt out, the rebound was seized upon by Kyra Carusa to sweep home her eleventh international goal from close-range.
Jessie Stapleton was one of four newcomers in the side and the 20-year-old capped her player of the match performance with Ireland’s third with 16 minutes left.
Once again, McCabe was the architect, floating a corner to the near post where Stapleton peeled away from her marker to glance a header across goal and over the reach of Nasi.
“It was tough playing in those hot conditions,” admitted Stapleton after marking her first start under Ward with her second international goal.
“We knew that we had to be better in the second half and the two substitutes changed the game by bringing energy into the team.”
Substitute Abbie Larkin also had the ball in the net in the second half but Carusa was adjudged to be offside from McCabe’s delivery in the build-up.
McCabe’s absence from the start switched the captain’s armband to Denise O’Sullivan and the Cork woman, who became Ireland’s second-highest cap holder behind Emma Byrne on 122 appearances, twice went close in the latter stages.
Yet it was substitute Amber Barrett who proved to be the clinical one.
On for Carusa for her 50th cap, the Donegal native raced clear on the right from the halfway line in stoppage time. Rather than square for O’Sullivan, she had a clear sight of goal and easily tucked the ball into the far corner.
This second-half deluge goes some way to atoning for last month’s loss by the same scoreline in Slovenia.
Now they must repeat the feat in Tuesday’s rematch against the Greeks at Tallaght and avoid the sluggishness which blighted their first-half display.
Anastasia Spyridonidou was the Greek player to pocket a late equaliser against Ireland in Athens six years ago, and she was the target as the home side sought to rattle the wounded visitors.
On a couple of occasions, goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan was required to repel shots, but the most vital defensive act was Anna Patten blocking Eleni Saich’s 21st-minute goalbound effort.
Having access to a world-class star like McCabe, albeit only partly, offered Ward an escape route from the flatness.
“Stretching allowed us to dominate the game,” Ward added about the impact of McCabe.
“When we did that and increased the tempo, it was much better.
“Everything was calm at half-time but the message was about what we’re going after. It must be remembered that we’ve only had seven tactical sessions with this squad since taking over.
“On the back of Slovenia, it’s natural to doubt a bit. We must start Tuesday as we finished this match.” Slovenia’s win over Turkey maintains their 100 percent record by the midway point of the campaign.
Presuming Ireland see off basement side Greece again and complete the double against Turkey away on May 30, the final match at Pairc Uí Chaoímh in Cork on June 2 will determine the group winner.
As the head-to-head record is decisive in Uefa’s Nations League criteria, Ireland would have to match the 4-0 victory Slovenia inflicted on them.
Z Nasi; M Palama, E Markou, M Gkouni; S Ntarzanou; E Saich, A Moraitou, M Mitkou, I Papatheodorou; A Spyridonidou, V Sarri.
C Brosnan; A Mannion, J Stapleton, A Patten, M Campbell (K McCabe 46); T Toland, R Littlejohn (M Sheva 46), D O'Sullivan; L Kiernan (A Larkin 62), K Carusa (A Barrett 78), L Quinn (E Murphy 85).
Jelena Pejković (CRO).
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