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Aine O'Gorman: We didn't adjust quickly enough to Canada's changes

Updated / Wednesday, 26 Jul 2023 20:19
Áine O'Gorman, Denise O'Sullivan and Megan Connolly after Ireland's defeat in Perth
Áine O'Gorman, Denise O'Sullivan and Megan Connolly after Ireland's defeat in Perth

Defender Áine O'Gorman felt the Republic of Ireland did not adjust quickly enough to Canada's changes as a 2-1 defeat signalled the end of any prospect of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Women's World Cup with one group game remaining.

The Girls in Green took the lead on four minutes in Perth through Katie McCabe's goal straight from a corner kick and held that lead until deep into first-half stoppage time when Megan Connolly conceded an unfortunate own goal.

Canada regained more control in the second half and scored what proved to be the winning goal on 53 minutes.

O'Gorman, making her first World Cup appearance after 17 years as a senior international, was part of the impressive first-half Irish display, having started the game following right wing-back Heather Payne's injury-enforced withdrawal shortly before kick-off.

But with both sides ringing the changes after the interval, the 34-year-old felt that Ireland did not react promptly enough to the alterations Canada made.

"We were really happy with first half, got the goal, got forward, created chances, got corner kicks , but just got hit with a sucker punch before half-time and coming into second half, they made some substitutions and changed tempo of the game and we just didn't adjust quick enough," she said.

"It's hard to reflect on it now but we scored the first goal, it's our first Women's World Cup, we'll take a lot from it and learn and the future generations coming through will learn."

Midfielder Ruesha Littlejohn was somewhat disappointed the side did not add to their goal tally in the opening half. Asked whether it was one of the better passages of play in that period, she replied: "I wouldn't say so."

She added: "We were caught up in the occasion a bit. I didn't think we played great football; we had some good moments but would liked to have capitalised more on that at times. We could see that they were a bit shaky, a bit rattled, so we would have liked another goal. At this level when you switch off, you will get punished."

Again Ireland conceded goals either side of half-time, and it's something they need to address, with Littlejohn saying: "Those moments at the end of a half and the start of a second half are massive. If you don't learn, you get punished, and here we are punished again. Hopefully it will be a massive learning curve for us going forward and it's something we need to get better at."

Much has been said about the benefits of playing at a World Cup and Littlejohn is hoping the squad can step up to the next level.

"All the girls know we have to be better. At this level, in and out of possession, you have to be really on it. We've got a taste of it, now we have to go away and really work at it, learn quickly and get better quickly."

Ireland still have a final group game to play against Nigeria on Monday in Brisbane and midfielder Sinead Farrelly vowed that they will look to finish on a high even if progression to the last-16 is now out of reach.

"It's been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We just were itching to be better and we know we're capable of more," she said.

"We're just a little upset about the result obviously and it hurts but we have another game so we go to sleep tonight, we wake up tomorrow, it's a new day and we're going to prepare for that, prepare to win for that and finish out this thing as strong as we can."

Watch every game from the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup live on RTÉ, with comprehensive coverage of the Republic of Ireland across television, radio and digital

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