The job is complete, with three additional points added to their tally. However, for Ireland to secure ultimate promotion back to League A, they must find another level of performance in the closing stages of the competition.
And they must eliminate the errors that permitted Greece to find a way of returning to the match.
An initial penalty from Amber Barrett along with Anna Patten’s headed goal in the second half secured consecutive victories. Despite this, the attendance of 5,879 was merely above the previous low set during the 5-1 victory over Albania last October.
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Was the choice to award Ireland a penalty kick in the ninth minute justified? No. The foul that knocked Leanne Kiernan off her feet occurred outside the penalty area, beyond the whiteline.
However, that initial breakthrough did not have the same energizing impact as Marissa Sheva’s goal early in the second half in Crete just four days prior.
Patten’s header at the 50-minute mark also failed to materialize. Consequently, the girls in green found themselves hanging on desperately when Greece responded with a goal from Veatriki Sarri in the 72nd minute, followed by their attempts to level the score.
Assuming they secure victory in Turkey on May 30, their next match will be an intense encounter with Slovenia in Cork on June 3, following Slovenia’s win over the Turkish team earlier yesterday.
To secure the top spot in their head-to-head contest against Slovenia and earn automatic promotion back to League A, Ireland must claim victory by at least five points when they play inPairc Uí Chaoimh.
Based on what we saw on Tuesday night, that seems rather optimistic.
They suffered the most unfortunate beginning outside of the pitch. A "clerical mistake" led to Heather Payne, who was completely healed from the harm that prevented her from playing in Friday's 4-0 victory in Crete, being unable to sit on the substitutes' bench.
However, on the field, they couldn't have wished for a more ideal start, as German referee Franziska Wildfeuer mistakenly awarded a penalty.
When Leanne Kiernan’s weaving run from the right side was abruptly stopped by Athanasia Moraitou, Wildfeuer momentarily hesitated, seeming uncertain about whether the foul had occurred within or beyond the penalty area.
Suggestions from replays indicated otherwise, yet in the absence of VAR, she remained resolute even after signaling for the penalty kick.
The guests did not introduce any extra ambiguity. Should there have been any objections to the decision, these were kept under wraps.
Initially, Lucy Quinn positioned herself at the 12-yard mark, however, eventually, Barrett moved up front following some on-pitch care for Liverpool’s Kiernan.
Straight after netting her eighth senior Ireland goal on Friday, Barrett confidently sent the ball into the back of the net past goalkeeper Zoi Nasi, who made the right prediction about where the shot would go but couldn’t keep up with the speed of the strike.
Even though they were comfortably leading, Ireland’s opportunities weren’t materializing as frequently as anticipated following their strong showing in the second half in Crete.
The situation started improving around the halfway point, however, it took until the 43rd minute for the away team's goalkeeper, Zoi Nasi, to make her first save.
Before that, Patton and Aoife Mannion both missed their shots wide – Patton from a Megan Campbell long throw, and Mannion from a corner kick.
After some header ping-pong between Barrett and Patten within the penalty box, Mannion took his chance.
Moments later Kiernan, spotting Nasi off her line, attempted to lob the goalkeeper but failed to direct the ball on target from 20 yards.
Tyler Toland missed his shot with a low drive from 25 yards, yet the Blackburn midfielder still had an impressive performance, effectively disrupting Greek moves and maintaining composure with the ball throughout.
On the opposite side, the most concerning instance for Courtney Brosnan occurred when a back-pass from Jessie Stapleton was slightly off-target, leaving the goalkeeper with no choice but to clear the ball under duress.
Five minutes after halftime, Ireland extended their advantage by scoring another goal.
Campbell sent the corner in from the right side, and Patten, who was the tallest player from Ireland on the field, directed her glancing header into the far post.
This was supposed to be the trigger for further action, yet once more Ireland found it difficult to generate scoring opportunities.
Greece needed 58 minutes to produce a shot on target, which came from Sarri at a distance of 20 yards and was easily handled by Brosnan.
But when the visiting midfielder’s low 20-yard shot beat the Everton goalkeeper and squeezed inside the right-hand post with 18 minutes to play, it was panic stations.
Minutes later, Stapleton’s pass into midfield was intercepted by Sarri, who passed quickly to Ioanna Papatheodorou. She shot first-time on the spin, but the ball whistled wide of the target.
Papatheodorou then dribbled into the right-hand-side of the area, shifted the ball onto her left and then her right, creating space to the side of Stapleton to let fly. Brosnan was comfortably behind the shot.
The conclusion was more nerve-wracking than required, and even greater performance will be essential in both matches of the final qualifying round if the aim of securing direct promotion is to be realized.
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