Injured McGuinness sits out Portugal defeat

A goal after 20 minutes by Andreia Norton was enough to give the hosts victory but manager Dave Connell said the whole week had been a very worthwhile exercise.

“It was disappointing to lose today’s game but the week was about getting the girls together ahead of the European qualifiers and I was more concerned with the performance rather than the result.

“We probably deserved to get something out today’s as, like Tuesday night, we played better in the second-half but we just couldn’t force an equaliser,” said Connell.

Connell made several changes to the side which drew 1-1 with Portugal on Tuesday night and was thankful that the game was played in much cooler conditions that the 30 degree temperatures his side had to endure in the opening game.

Nonetheless, he emptied his bench during the game making eight substitutions with the only players not to see action being the injured Katie McCabe, Chelsea Noonan and Gemma McGuinness.

Like Tuesday, the Portuguese were first to settle and almost went ahead after three minutes when Fatima Pinto’s 25m shot shook the Irish crossbar.

But the home side made no mistake in the 20th minute when a misplaced pass deep in the Irish defensive area was intercepted by Norton who lobbed the ball high over the head of goalkeeper Jill Moloney.

The Irish keeper then had to be at her best to keep out Nadia Gomes but it was the Irish who finished the half the strongest forcing a series of corners prior to the break.

The Irish continued to attack after half-time and Clare Shine went close with a crisp 25m shot and then good work down the left by Rachel Doyle and Amy O’Connor ended with Shauna Newman forcing an excellent save from goalkeeper Tatiana Beleza who later produced a point blank save to deny O’Connor.

With the Republci of Ireland pushing for an equaliser, Portugal almost sneaked a second in the dying minutes when winger Gomes broke free and cut in from the left before shooting but Moloney produced a good save.

Castlebar Celtic’s Sara Rowe picked up a knee injury following a bad tackle during the second half and she’ll undergo a scan tomorrow following the squad’s return to Ireland while Connell will also be hoping that the injuries which prevented Raheny United’s Katie McCabe and Douglas Hall’s Chelsea Noonan from taking any part in the week’s action clear up before the qualifiers.

He’ll also be keeping his fingers crossed that several other players, such as Chole Mustaki, Lauren Dwyer and Ciara Rossiter and Gemma McGuinness continue to recover from their recent injuries.

Connell’s next task will be to select 18 players for the squad that will face Denmark, Greece and Kazakhstan between September 21 and 26 in Dublin and he admitted it is going to be a tough task.

“It is going to be difficult to pick 18 from this group as it is a strong squad. One or two players disappointed this week and one or two stepped up to the plate so I’ll sit down with the staff over the next few days and go through it and then announce the squad sometime next week,” said Connell.