The Republic of Ireland, women's U17 team travel to Ukraine this week to compete in the elite qualifying phase of the UEFA Championships where only the winner of group 3 which contains Ukraine, Poland and Sweden will advance to the semi-finals of the competition.


Noel King's side have a perfect record in the competition to date following their victorious trip to Slovenia last year where they defeated Denmark, Turkey and the tournament hosts, Slovenia, scoring nine goals and keeping three consecutive clean sheets in the process.

Included in the squad are six players who featured in the U19 UEFA Championship, elite qualifying phase in Sweden where the Irish finished in third place following a 3-2 victory over Turkey. Kerry Glynn, Megan Campbell, Ciara Grant, Dora Gorman, Denise O'Sullivan and Ciara O'Brien will all report back on international duty following their exploits in that competition. Also added to the squad is potent Finn Valley striker, Tanya Kennedy who has recovered from injury in time for the final qualifying stage of the competition.

Irish manager, Noel King was cautious about Ireland's chances in group 3 but insisted that his side had every chance of progressing to the finals, should they play to their potential, "There's no doubt about how tough this competition is. We have a very experienced squad as a lot of the players have been with us for a couple of seasons. We can only benefit from that experience which will give us every chance of progressing but chance and achievement are two very different things at this level. With six players playing in last week's U19 elite qualifying phase, I think that will have benefitted them greatly in terms of their development. They have been playing and competing against a higher level of opposition which can only be a good thing," he said.

"We all know that Sweden are the giants of women's international football but Ukraine and Poland have been investing a lot of effort into their development at this level so I think that this will be an incredibly interesting group. It is a long and arduous journey to Crimea in Ukraine but this is just one of the obstacles we must face if we are to be successful in this competition," he added.

UEFA Women's U17 elite qualifying phase fixtures

Saturday, April 10th 2010
Republic of Ireland v Ukraine
Fiolent Stadium, Simferopol
Kick-off: 13.00hrs (local time)

Monday, April 12th 2010
Poland v Republic of Ireland
Krymteplitsa Stadium, Simferopol
Kick-off: 16.00 hrs (local time)

Thursday, April 15th 2010
Republic of Ireland v Sweden
Krymteplitsa Stadium, Simferopol
Kick-off: 16.00 hrs (local time)

Republic of Ireland squad
Grace Moloney - Reading FC
Kerry Glynn - Montclair Thunderbolts
Jessica Gleeson - Tramore FC
Megan Campbell - St. Francis FC
Ciara Grant - Kilmacrennan Celtic
Siobhan Killeen - Raheny United
Dora Gorman - Salthill Devon
Denise O'Sullivan - Wilton United
Stacie Jayne Donnelly - Reading FC
Niamh McLaughlin - Greencastle FC (Pictured above)
Ciara O'Brien - Tramore FC
Aileen Gilroy - Killala FC
Rianna Jarrett - North End United FC
Jennifer Byrne - Bealnamulla FC
Amanda Budden - Wilton United
Rebecca Kearney - Lakewood Athletic
Clare Shine - Douglas Hall FC
Tanya Kennedy - Finn Valley FC