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Ireland move through gears to sail past Greece

Updated / Friday, 4 Apr 2025 19:53
Marissa Sheva is mobbed after her goal in Crete
Marissa Sheva is mobbed after her goal in Crete

It took a while, but the Republic of Ireland eventually moved through the gears to sail past Greece 4-0 in Crete and get their Nations League back on track.

Smarting after February's 4-0 loss to Slovenia, Carla Ward was desperate for a positive reaction at the Theodoros Vardinogiannis stadium. But it required the half-time introduction of Marissa Sheva and Katie McCabe - initially rested due to a calf niggle - to shake Ireland into life.

Goals from Sheva, Kyra Carusa, Jessie Stapleton and Amber Barrett killed off the spirited Greek challenge, with McCabe central to everything good her side did on the turnaround. The 29-year-old offered yet more evidence of her enormous importance to Irish hopes of reaching the World Cup in 2027.

They welcome Greece to Tallaght on Tuesday looking to make this a perfect window and keep alive ambitions of achieving automatic promotion back to League A, but there'll be a few things to pore over in the post mortem.

Ward made four changes here: Stapleton, Megan Campbell, Tyler Toland and Leanne Kiernan all got the nod from the off.

Ireland toiled from the off on a sun-kissed pitch that appeared to hold up well having hosted Wednesday's Greek Cup semi-final between OFI Crete and Asteras Tripolis.

The hosts had their homework done - Greece targeted Ireland with early, direct ball any time they turned it over, just as Slovenia had done so emphatically back in February.

Four minutes in Anastasia Spyridonidou - who scored an injury-time equaliser against Ireland back in 2019 - popped a clever reverse ball to Ioanna Papatheodorou, and her angled effort flew wide. It was an early warning sign that Ireland struggled to heed.

They did try to settle into some sort of rhythm. Stapleton exuded confidence at centre-half, mopping up Greek attacks while fizzing lots of good ball into her midfield. But such composure was lacking generally in another disjointed opening half.

The hosts' physical approach made it scrappy fare until things suddenly opened up after the 20-minute mark. Both countries threatened in a frantic five-minute spell. Aoife Mannion dragged a left-footed 25-yarder wide; Anna Patten made a superb block to deny Eleni Saich; Lucy Quinn's daisy-cutter failed to trouble Zoe Nasi; before the lively Saich forced Brosnan into a sharp low save.

Back in 2019, Vera Pauw called Greece "a bunch of street fighters". They brought their full bag of tricks here, snapping into tackles, drawing Ireland into various battles around the field and generally frustrating Ward's team.

Kiernan was guilty of letting those frustrations boil over approaching half-time when she petulantly barged into Papatheodorou off the ball.

Scoreless at the break, it had been heavy going - and Ward was obviously unimpressed: off came Tyler Toland and Campbell, on came Marissa Sheva and McCabe. That decisive act of management was swiftly rewarded.

There was much more impetus to Ireland's play right from the off and it was rewarded in the 49th minute when Sheva's low drive from outside the box nicked the shin of Eleni Markou and whistled into the net.

The Irish press was a completely different kettle of fish now. They hounded Greece with far greater intensity, lifting the tempo of the contest to a level their lower-ranked opponents began to struggle with.

Just after the hour mark, Ireland killed off the game. McCabe danced past two challenges and bent a gorgeous ball towards Kiernan, who'd drifted into the box unchecked. The Liverpool striker's volley was excellently saved by Nasi, but Carusa was there to boot home her 11th international goal from three yards out.

O'Sullivan almost made it three after good pressure saw her charge into the box and force Nasi into a good save. The reprieve didn't last however. McCabe swung in the resulting corner and Stapleton looped a fine header into the far corner.

Abbie Larkin knocked home a fourth on 78 minutes that was ruled out for a Carusa offside, but the fight had long drained out of Greece by then.

With almost the last kick of the game, substitute Barrett marked her 50th Ireland appearance with a really well-taken goal, a low shot that flew into the bottom left corner.

Greece: Zoi Nasi; Maria Palama, Eleni Markou (capt, Ioanna Chamalidou 77), Maria Gkouni; Stamatia Ntarzanou, Eleni Saich, Veatriki Sarri, Athanasia Moraitou (Eleni Kakambouki 72), Maria Mitkou; Ioanna Papatheodorou, Anastasia Spyridonidou (Sofia Kongouli 72)

Republic of Ireland: Courtney Brosnan; Aoife Mannion, Jessie Stapleton, Anna Patten, Megan Campbell (Katie McCabe HT); Tyler Toland (Marissa Sheva HT), Ruesha Littlejohn, Denise O'Sullivan (capt); Lucy Quinn (Emily Murphy 85), Kyra Carusa (Amber Barrett 78), Leanne Kiernan (Abbie Larkin 62)

Referee: Jelena Pejkovic (Croatia)

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