Ireland come from behind in Turkey to clinch battling win
MURPHY'S LAW: Emily Murphy scores Ireland's winner against Turkey at Esenler Stadium in Istanbul. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Ireland were fortunate rather than formidable in setting up Tuesday’s decider against Slovenia at Pairc Uí Chaoímh that requires a four-goal win.
Substitute Emily Murphy plundered a late winner against Turkey to retain a slender chance of leapfrogging the table-toppers in the final game on Leeside.
With the Slovenians making it five wins from five by beating Greece 2-0 in Ljubljana earlier, three points were a must for Ireland in Istanbul.
They were fortunate to take any after Kader Hancar gave the Turks a deserved lead early in the second half, forcing Carla Ward to rely on reinforcements such as throw-in specialist Megan Campbell from the substitutes’ bench.
Campbell’s deep catapult from the sideline into a crowded penalty area with 11 minutes left met the head of the back-peddling Busem Seker, who glanced the ball over the head of her goalkeeper Selda Akgoz.
Ireland chased the essential winner against the side languishing 32 places behind them in Fifa’s rankings and they were gifted it with a minute remaining.
Circumstance decreed that managing Katie McCabe gametime in the aftermath of her exertions with Arsenal’s Champions League victory was ditched and her long punt proved fruitful.
Sejde Abrahamson inexplicably slipped when attempting to clear, steering her header into the path of Murphy to smash her first international goal high into the net.
The pair of results leaves a gap of three points between the top two.
Uefa apply head-to-head criteria in separating teams deadlocked on points, meaning Ireland need to match the 4-0 defeat inflicted upon them away to Slovenia in February. Should they do so, Ireland will shade it on goals scored by a single strike margin.
Whichever team sits at the summit by Tuesday at 8pm, will be promoted to League A and guaranteed entry into the playoff series for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.
“My attitude is that anything is possible,” declared Ward to RTÉ after recording the fourth win of her five-match reign.
“Winning at the death like that puts us in a great position for Tuesday. We’ll go all out to score goals against Slovenia but if we finish runners-up, then we’ll have the second chance of reaching League A through the playoff in October.”
That playoff will be against a third-placed team from League A, currently one of Italy, Portugal, Iceland or Austria heading into the concluding series.
Plan A is to progress through the front door but only a vast improvement will generate prospects of achieving their mission.
Another slow start cost Ireland as they ceded possession to a Turkish side they scraped past 1-0 in Ward’s first game at the helm.
Although they were promoted from League C and Ireland relegated from League A, the hosts bossed the first half, denied the opener by Courtney Brosnan’s save and a block by Aoife Mannion.
The Manchester United defender was withdrawn at half-time but the defensive reshuffle soon backfired when Ireland were caught square for the opener.
Ilayda Civelek was allowed a free down the left side and her low cross offered Kader Hancar the space to drill a shot through the legs of Jessie Stapleton and into the bottom corner.
“We have to miles better going into Tuesday,” admitted McCabe afterwards.
“We didn’t move the ball quick enough and sloppy mistakes gave them a sniff to go forward. It was too cheap of a goal to concede and if we want to push for League A, we’ve to close spaces and take better care of the ball.
“We’re trying to do different things with a different formation and be on the front foot. That takes time and we’re only five games into Carla’s reign but we need to implement it quicker.
“If we’d folded that early it would be out of character for us. I spoke to the girls about being patient and kudos to the substitutes for changing the game for us.” McCabe was redeployed into attack when Campbell was introduced with 15 minutes left. She could stay there for the Slovenian shootout, while there’s every chance Louise Quinn’s swansong will involve joining the attack in search of a spree.
“We can score goals from different phases,” added McCabe. “We can’t rush but must be at our absolute best because Slovenia have had a brilliant campaign.”
: S Akgoz; B Seker, G Hiz, S Abrahamson, I Civelek; E Topcu, M Cal, E Turkoglu; Miray Cin, K Hancar (M Ozturk 75). M Pekel.
: C Brosnan; A Mannion (C Hayes 46), A Patten, J Stapleton, K McCabe: M Connolly; A Larkin (S Noonan 60), D O’Sullivan, M Sheeva (K Carusa 60), Lucy Quinn (M Campbell 75); A Barrett (E Murphy 60).
: Kristina Georgieva (Bulgaria)
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