Ireland WNT vs Turkey - Match Report

Tonight saw Carla Ward’s Ireland WNT kick off their Nations League Campaign with a 1-0 win vs Turkey who are 35 places below them in UEFA rankings in Tallaght Stadium with an impressive attendance of 8,071.

Ireland are back to being the sharks swimming with the fishes as they compete in League B in the UEFA Nations League after a lackluster defeat to Wales who snatched one of the final places in the UEFA Women’s Euros which takes place this summer. However, it was an exciting event for Ireland as their new Boss ex Aston Villa Manager Carla Ward took charge of her first game with the Girls in Green.

Turkey came into this game off the bat of a 2-0 loss to Ukraine in the UEFA Women's European Qualifiers in Stadionul Zimbru. The team are currently ranked 60th in the World. Both teams had strong squads out, with the likes of McCabe, O’Sullivan and Brosnan on show for Ireland, while we saw the likes of Akgoz,Seker and Pekel make returns for Turkey. It was a tough game before the match had even Kicked Off, with the wind and rain, but also a heavy, muddy pitch which occurred from the overuse in the last few days. 

The Turkish did very well throughout the whole game, pressing the Irish high up the field and meeting their physicality levels from the off. Ireland's clean sheet always looked secure until the last few minutes where the foot was taken off the gas a little bit by the team. However, Ireland's goal came late into the first half with none other than San Diego’s Kyra Carusa meeting the ball mid air to stick it in the back of the Turkish net, the teams went in 1-0 to Ireland at half time.

Out for the 2nd half they came, and it was clear that Amhrán na bhFiann Veteran Ruesha Littlejohn was fired up and raring to keep the momentum up, she put in sprint after sprint and challenge after challenge to win the ball back and stride up the pitch for Ireland as the ball was pivoted through her all game, which overall made her the standout player and the MOTM on the night. Subs were made throughout the 2nd half, with the likes of Amber Barrett and Abbie Larkin making their way into the game. In the later moments of the game, Turkey started to sneak their way around Irish players with great use of physicality and determination, which also corresponded with the heavy legs of the Irish, who seemed to hate the thought of using channels or tracking back.

Two Turkish corners in the 70th minute raised the concerns for the home supporters. Courtney Brosnan pushed one away from inside her own six yard box and when Busem Seker swung in the next one it beat Brosnan but not Campbell who got back to head away from under her own crossbar. At the very death a Turkish free kick resulted in the ball just fizzing by the Ireland post but the Girls in Green had done enough to earn all three points. 

Overall, a quite enough but strong game from both sides, seeing Carla Ward’s Ireland hobble away with the 3 points where they next take on Slovenia for next Tuesday’s match that has a 5pm kick-off Irish time in Koper for the conclusion of this month’s Nations League double header, while Turkey next take on Greece at home. Carla Ward will be looking at the positive’s and negatives of that content Ireland Performance and building on it for Tuesday, where they are expected to change up both tactics and the team sheet, as Ward tries to find out what her best 11 is.