Haiti 0 - 1 Republic of Ireland | 2015 - Senior Womens Friendlies | 999941736

Senior Women's Friendlies International Friendly | Central Broward Regional Park Stadium, Lauderhill, Florida, USA

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Haiti 0 - 1 Republic of Ireland

Report
Preview
Lineups
Minute by Minute Commentary
Statistics
Gallery

Women’s National Team defeat Haiti

Haiti 0 Republic of Ireland 1 - A 21st minute penalty from Ruesha Littlejohn gave the Republic of Ireland a deserved victory over Haiti in a friendly international at Central Boward Regional Park in Laurderhill, Florida (USA) in the early hours of this morning.

14th May 2015

Littlejohn drilled home the spot-kick which was awarded after Katie McCabe was brought tumbling to the ground as she weaved her way through the Haiti defence.

Ireland should have won by a bigger margin given the amount of possession they enjoyed but they found the deep-lying Haiti defence difficult to break down and the bumpy surface made it tricky to control the ball, particularly in the final third.

Manager Sue Ronan made three changes to the team which started Sunday’s 0-3 defeat by USA in San Jose. Skipper Emma Byrne returned between the posts, Niamh Fahey came into midfield and Katie McCabe started on the wing.

From the beginning, Ireland took control of the game and moved the ball about well with Stephanie Roche almost scoring in the opening minute with a long range shot while Ruesha Littlejohn also went close on two occasions in the first ten minutes.

Ireland finally broke the deadline after 21 minutes when McCabe weaved her way into the box from the right and was brought down. From the resultant penalty Littlejohn drilled home the penalty for her fourth goal in 31 appearances.

More goals seemed inevitable at that stage but, despite all their possession, Ireland were unable to add to Littlejohn’s goal. They had chances, with Littlejohn and Russell both going close on two occasions before half-time, while after the break Stephanie Roche, Denise O’Sullivan and Littlejohn were all off target as Ireland searched in vain for the second goal that would have made life a little bit more comfortable at the end.

Two minutes into injury time, Ireland had a major scarce when Sherly Jeudy found herself one on one with Byrne but the Irish keeper drew on all her experience to narrow the angle and save the goalbound shot.

This was Ireland’s final match before they kick off their Euro 2017 qualifying campaign against Finland in September and manager Sue Ronan was happy to sign off with a victory.

“It was good to get a win although I am disappointed we didn’t win by more given the amount of possession we had and the number of chances we created,” said Ronan. “Conditions were difficult but we were patient and kept the ball well most of the time. We had a narrow escape at the end but Emma Byrne showed her experience with a great save. We now have a break until September when the Euro 2017 qualifiers start and I think this week’s experience will stand to us then.”

Republic of Ireland: Emma Byrne (C) (Arsenal); Aine O’Gorman (UCD Waves), Karen Duggan (UCD Waves), Megan Campbell (Florida State University), Meabh De Burca (Galway WFC); Ruesha Littlejohn (Celtic), Niamh Fahey (Chelsea), Denise O’Sullivan (Glasgow City); Julie Ann Russell (UCD Waves), Stephanie Roche (Houston Dash), Katie McCabe (Raheny United). Subs Used: Emma Beckett (Amazon Grimstad) for McCabe (68). Unused Subs: Ciara Grant (UCD Waves), Ciara Rossiter (Wexford Youths WAFC), Nicola Sinnott (Wexford Youths WAFC), Emma Hansberry (Castlebar Celtic), Niamh Reid Burke (Raheny United), Jessica Gleeson (Wexford Youths WAFC).

Ireland hope to build against Haiti

The Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team will face Haiti in the early hours of Thursday morning (01:00) Irish time looking to build on their performance against World Cup favourites USA last Sunday.

12th May 2015

Ireland midfielder Ruesha Littlejohn says it will be a different game to the one in San Jose but the squad are looking forward to the challenge.

“It was a tough game in San Jose. Obviously they had all the ball and we were defending the whole time but we were disciplined, kept our shape and almost kept them out to half-time. It was a great occasion because we don’t normally play in front of that many people and we also got play against one of the best teams in the world which will only stand to us in the Euro 2017 qualifiers,” said Littlejohn.

The Irish squad had a five hour flight from San Francisco to Fort Lauderdale on Monday, crossing three time zones in the process, and, after a good night’s sleep, commenced preparations today for the game against Haiti with a training session at the match stadium where it was obvious that even though the game kicks off at 8pm local time, the stifling heat will be a factor.

It’s Ireland’s first ever meeting with Haiti at any level and Littlejohn is looking forward to what will be a new experience.

“We don’t normally play teams from that part of the world and I was suspended for the game in March against Costa Rica at the Istria Cup so I am looking forward to it. It’s good to play against different types of teams and we will be trying to get a win,”said Littlejohn who now plays in Scotland for Celtic.

The squad has been boosted by the arrival of team skipper Emma Byrne and Niamh Fahey who flew in from England after appearing for appearing for their clubs over the weekend and they replace Charlotte McCormack and Fiona O’Sullivan in the 18 player panel available to Sue Ronan. However, she will have to plan without Wexford Youths defender Jessica Gleeson who suffered concussion after a first half collision with USA’s Abby Wambach on her senior debut last Sunday and must sit out the game. Ronan will delay naming her starting line-up until just before kick-off to allow everybody enough time to recover from the exertions of Sunday and the travel on Monday but she is looking forward to the test that Haiti will provide.

“It will be a different type of game to one last Sunday but we are still playing a good team. They are top six in the CONCACAF region and will test us, especially in these conditions. We will be looking for another good performance from the girls especially as this is going to be our last game before the start of the Euro 2017 qualifiers in September,” said Ronan.

FIXTURE

Thursday, May 14

Haiti v Republic of Ireland, Central Broward Regional Park Stadium, Lauderhill, Florida (USA), 01:00 (Irish Time).

IRELAND SQUAD

GOALKEEPERS: EMMA BYRNE (Arsenal), NIAMH REID-BURKE (Raheny United).

DEFENDERS: MEGAN CAMPBELL (Florida State University), MEABH DE BURCA (Galway WFC),

KAREN DUGGAN (UCD Waves), NIAMH FAHEY (Chelsea), JESSICA GLEESON (Wexford Youths Women’s AFC), AINE O’GORMAN (UCD Waves), CIARA ROSSITER (Wexford Youths).

MIDFIELDERS: EMMA BECKETT (Amazon Grimstad), CIARA GRANT (UCD Waves), EMMA HANSBERRY (Castlebar Celtic), DENISE O’SULLIVAN (Glasgow City), NICOLA SINNOTT (Wexford Youths).

FORWARDS: RUESHA LITTLEJOHN (Celtic), KATIE McCABE (Raheny United), FIONA O’SULLIVAN (Notts County), STEPHANIE ROCHE (Houston Dash), JULIE ANN RUSSELL (UCD Waves).