Republic of Ireland's defeat to Australia was a missed opportunity

Republic of Ireland’s narrow defeat against Australia was a missed opportunity… but their gritty display showed they have nothing to fear, and they must be let off the leash to make the World Cup knockout stages

• Republic of Ireland slipped to a narrow 1-0 defeat against Australia on Thursday
• Ireland had their chances in the match but failed to take them and were punished
• With a little more attacking intent, they could still make the round of 16 

They had their chances and that is what will hurt most on the journey back to Brisbane. 

As the game swung towards its frenetic conclusion, Australia manager Tony Gustavsson was a worried man, both in appearance and action. As the clock ticked past the 85th minute, he sacrificed a striker in Mart Fowler for an extra defender, veteran Claire Polkinghorne.

There were opportunities to equalise. Megan Connolly’s free-kick, earned by Lucy Quinn’s energy and exuberance, which just wouldn’t dip enough. Louise Quinn flashed a header wide, Katie McCabe and the impressive Abbie Larkin both had chances, more like half-chances. But in the end, Ireland just couldn’t find the net.

And when everything is sliced and diced, that continues a recurring theme of this historic year. This was Ireland’s sixth game in 2023 and they have drawn a blank in five of them. 

Goals are the currency in tournament football that gets you into the knock-out stages. Vera Pauw needs to find a clinical edge to this team over the next two games, where they face Olympic champions Canada and nine-time African champions Nigeria.

Australia edged out Republic of Ireland in a closely-fought World Cup encounter on Thursday

Ireland had their chances but failed to take them as they slipped to an agonising defeat

However, the way that Ireland unnerved and unsettled Australia as they pursued an equaliser, that may have been deserved on the balance of play, suggests that they have nothing to fear for their next two group games. But perhaps, they should be let off the leash a little and display a tad more ambition in attack.

We know that Ireland can defend. And defend well. They pride themselves on their solidity. And for 52 minutes on Thursday, their game-plan of containment was working a treat. Australians, shorn of their superstar captain Sam Kerr in a moment of pre-match drama, were growing increasingly frustrated and running out of ideas.

In such a tight and tense game, things were always likely to hinge on one mistake. Pauw had said that to the players at half-time. And unfortunately for Ireland, that came on their side. 

Marissa Sheva had been unable throughout to find the pitch of the game, and her careless shove on Hayley Raso led to the penalty which Steph Catley dispatched with some aplomb.

Sheva’s struggles will once again throw the spotlight on some of the selection decisions that Pauw made in her squad. It is still difficult to see what the Washington Spirit attacker, for all her athleticism and energy, offers the team when the claims of a natural goal-scorer like Leanne Kiernan were ultimately over-looked.

Perhaps, Pauw would have been content to allow the game to peter out towards a scoreless draw if that error hadn’t been made. We will never know. Instead, she was forced to change things and her judicious use of substitutions – bringing Larkin and Lucy Quinn onto the field – was a positive move.

The Dutchwoman can be reluctant to alter things and too often, those on the bench can warm up incessantly during a second-half and never see action. But within 10 minutes of Catley’s penalty hitting the top corner, Larkin and Quinn both entered the fray. And they immediately brought some energy to proceedings.

Larkin, in particular, caught the eye. The teenager from Ringsend is the youngest member of the squad, almost half the age of Niamh Fahey. And she took to the game with the fearlessness of youth, like an 18-year-old who has been given the chance to show what she can do at the World Cup.

‘I was just doing media with her and she was speaking to the camera like a professional,’ Kyra Carusa said of Larkin afterwards. ‘I was thinking “oh my God, she is growing up so fast.” We all made our World Cup debuts but an 18-year-old to come out on that stage against some of the best players in the world and go one v one and whip those balls into the box, it is everything you want to see.

Katie McCabe (right) set the tone with a typically battling performance for her country

But Marissa Sheva’s (centre) shove proved costly as Australia netted a penalty to secure all three points from their opening group game

‘It just shows what kind of player she is and what kind of talent she has, because she is young and in this environment and she is learning every day. She has grown so much. I was just beaming watching her, she brings so much to the table and there is a lot ahead of her.’

If Larkin provided a bit of an x-factor, which is needed in tournament football, the tone was still set by Katie McCabe. She was aggressive and ferocious and her battle with Raso occasionally threatened to become outright war. But it was the Ireland captain that was trying to lift the team at various times.

‘Katie’s energy is contagious and when that girl presses up the field like she does, everyone is behind her. And that is something we are capable as a team of bringing so much earlier to a game,’ Carusa said at one point, perhaps suggesting that Ireland should have throw the shackles off a little bit sooner.

‘When Katie steps up on her side of the field, we all go. We talk about it all the time, when we go, we go as a team, that we always stick together in that and Katie leads us in that. Always.’

Gustavsson had made no secret that Australia were going to target Heather Payne at right wing-back, and she did initially have some issues with Cortnee Vine. However, Sinead Farrelly provided extra assistance to Payne for much of the first-half and it was the midfielder did provide one of the moments of the first-half, when she back-flicked the ball to Payne after dispossessing Caitlin Foord.

It was a game of moments, rather than fitting into any pattern. But that suited Ireland fine – until the concession of the penalty. It is just they need to find a way of conjuring more moments which can hurt the opposition.

Ireland should still believe they can make the last 16 after giving co-hosts Australia a scare

Just before the 70th minute, a statistic flashed up on the screen. Katrina Gorry, who was very industrious in the Australian midfield, had forced the most turnovers of the game in 11. But Denise O’Sullivan and McCabe were next with nine and eight respectively.

The pity was that Ireland’s two most creative players were mostly forcing the turnovers deep in their own half. And sometimes, in transition, the team simply weren’t able to capitalise, because O’Sullivan and McCabe were too deep.

It is only one of the posers that Pauw and her coaching staff will have to contemplate over the coming days. But after a ground-breaking and emotional day, they have plenty of credit in the bank. But for one mistake, it could have been a famous result to match the occasion.

But there are two more opportunities to do just that. And after this performance, you wouldn’t back against them doing it.

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