The weather, and ultimately Switzerland, got the better of Dave Connell’s U19 squad with hopes of qualifying for the 2022 European Championships dashed in Limerick on Saturday night.
Kilkenny’s Ellen Molloy started the tightly contested affair, Ireland looking to bounce back from the unluckiest of 1-0 defeats on Wednesday evening in Limerck. All three group games are being held in the Treaty county as part of the new format for women’s European Championship qualifiers.
There were a few changes for Ireland in the wake of the English defeat including goalkeeper Savanna Duffy who was beaten twice in the opening 15 minutes.
Auréile Csillag opened the scoring on the ten-minute mark (or more so, Emma Bucci with a deflection) before Alayah Pilgim turned scorer from provider to make it 2-0 with a quarter of an hour played.
A further ten minutes on, it looked like a torrid night for Ireland on the cards and Csillag made sure the third goal was hers and with 25 minutes on the clock, Ireland found themselves 3-0 down.
Emma Bucci would make way in the second half for Muireann Devaney but she managed to pull one back on 26 minutes to leave the scores 3-1 at the break.
Kilkenny native Ellen Molloy made up for missed opportunities against England with a fine finish inside the final quarter to light a fire under the home side in the hope of securing at least a point.
Alas, it wasn’t to be.
The spirited nature of the second-half performance will be something to build on further and considering they were most unlucky to come away without a point against England – despite being the better side for much of the game – they’ve done well.
It won’t make up for two straight defeats but they get one more bite at the cherry in the group to tack some points on the board as they meet Northern Ireland in Jackman Park at lunchtime on Tuesday.
