More late disappointment for Ireland against Dutch but key tests await
Amber Barrett of Republic of Ireland during the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifier match against the Netherlands. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
A couple of 2-1 defeats – and Katie McCabe goals – has reduced Ireland’s prospects of distorting the World Cup qualifying group, but the pivotal games await next month.
McCabe’s penalty shortly after the restart cancelled out Lineth Beerensteyn’s 20th minute opener but the Wolfsburg striker pinched the win with a poacher’s finish eight minutes from the end.
Courtney Brosnan ought to have fared better in dealing with the corner that led to the winner but the annoyance felt by the Dutch when she required treatment in either half to facilitate a pep-talk summarised the Irish gameplan.
This was a different type of defeat than Tuesday’s at home to France. Oppositely, they improved in the second half here and with better concentration might have held out to match the one-point tally of Poland.
It is the pair of matches against the third seeds in the pool that will ultimately determine the success of this campaign. Finishing third will earn a playoff against a League C team, rather than League B.
Denise O’Sullivan, who travelled to Utrecht as an observer after seeing a consultant on Friday, is expected to be free of her knee injury for that double-header on April 14 and 18.
One positive from this defeat too was McCabe avoiding a booking to incur a suspension.
They trailed at the break, failing to profit from a bright start before failing to defend the hosts’ first real chance.
Beerensteyn had scored in the last competitive meetings of the nations, back in 2018, and the attacker struck again on 20 minutes.
She was afforded too much space at the back post by Aoife Mannion, slipping in undetected to sweep home a low, teasing cross from right-back Lynn Wilms.
Brosnan was helpless to prevent that concession but managed to deny the same player a second approaching half time, stooping low to save at point-blank range.
The Dutch vulnerability from set-pieces so evident in Tuesday’s 2-2 in Poland recurred early on but, McCabe’s fourth-minute corner that was recycled, Kyra Carusa was unable to apply power or accuracy to her free header.
McCabe was walking a suspension tightrope, fortunate to escape a booking that would rule her out of the next assignment. Danish referee Frida Klarlund had warned Ireland’s skipper she was on her last chance after tangling with Wilms off the ball.
Veurink has been under the microscope since taking charge, his decisions further scrutinised since dropping points in Poland.
Dropping Arsenal goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar has particularly struck a nerve and the performances of her replacement from across nearby in North London, Lize Kop, has attracted flak.
The Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper wasn’t worked often by Ireland but mistiming her leap to connect with Anna Patten, rather than the ball, would only have enraged her detractors.
There could be no credence to the complaints directed towards the referee, who had a perfect view a yard away, and when the orange jerseys eventually vacated the box, McCabe stepped up to send the stopper the wrong way with her low penalty.
The spot-kick that led to her 33rd international goal came about from another Irish set-piece, a free-kick award for a shove on Carusa.
It was McCabe who hurled the cross back into the box for her ex-Arsenal teammate Anna Patten to climb high and sneak the vital touch that prompted the whistle.
McCabe did muster a chance from open play with 13 minutes left. Patten was her provider on this occasion, ferrying the ball from the right to the centre. Her shimmy left one Dutch defender out of the equation but the follow-up shot didn’t mirror that class, veering wildly off-target.
Amber Barrett had been introduced by that stage to plough a furrow in attack and Kop was mightily relieved that her heavy touch when overplaying at the edge of her box wasn’t punished.
For all the hosts’ possessions, clearcut chances were scarce. Vivianne Miedema squandered the best of them as the half mark loomed, left free inside after Ireland were sliced open down their left side.
The Manchester City star finished the game still on 104 goals, none against Ireland, after blazing her shot from 20 yards high and over.
Ireland succeeded in retaining their structure, while looking dangerous on the break, but they were undone by a soft winner, sourced from a corner conceded by Patten.
Barcelona’s Esmee Brugts, part of a treble substitution on 65 minutes, floated the free-kick into the near post where Brosnan tried to claim. However, pressure from Beerensteyn forced her to lose grasp of the ball, enabling the forward to swivel and prod it into the net from a yard out.
L Kop; L Wilms, D Janssen, V Buurman, M Olislagers; D Egurrola, W Kaptein; J Roord, V Miedema, L Beerensteyn; R Leuchter.
C Brosnan; A Patten, C Hayes, C Mustaki, A Mannion, M Connolly, M Sheva, K McCabe; L Quinn, E Murphy; K Carusa.
Frida Klarlund (DEN)
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
