2014 Cyprus Cup - Day 1 Review

THE first day of the 2014 Cyprus Cup came to a close with not a lot of surprising results. A total of six games were played between the 12 participating teams.

Things are looking good for Ireland who came away with a 1-1 draw against New Zealand (WR16).  A fine header from Peamount’s Aine O’Gorman put Ireland out in front after finishing a cross from Siobhan Killeen in the 60^th minute.

Ireland were three minutes away from victory but New Zealand’s Hannah Wilkinson managed an equalizer for the All Blacks in the 87^th minute, diminishing Ireland’s hopes of holding on to their three points.

“It was a great performance and if we had held on it would have been the biggest result in the history of the international women’s team,” told manager Sue Ronan to the FAI afterwards.

“They were a good team and it took us a while to get to grips with their movement but once we did we looked very comfortable. Our goal was very well worked and we did a lot of good things in the build-up.”

Diane Caldwell almost added a second goal for Ireland but her goal bound strike was deflected by a New Zealand defender.

“We were very disappointed at the manner in which we conceded the equaliser as it was just a long ball into the box and we should have dealt with it better,” said Ronan.

Canada’s tournament got off to a flying start, defeating Finland 3-0. Sophie Schmidt scored both goals in the first half with captain Christine Sinclair cementing the win with a third goal halfway through the second half.

Head Coach John Herdman told Tyler Green he was satisfied with the successful result: “That was a pretty solid performance against a good Finnish team. This team very rarely gets beaten by that sort of scoreline.

“I’m really proud of the girls today. We really talked about adopting that DNA and bringing it into this tournament and I think we’ve started exactly how you want to start a tournament with three goals, three points.”

The Netherlands drew with Australia 2-2, despite two early goals in the 12^th and 34^th minute from Malon Melis but Australia’s Katrina Gorry and Michelle Heyman’s goals in the 54^th and 59^th kept the Matilda’s in the game.

England defeated Italy 2-0 with goals from Karen Carney and Toni Duggan while both the France versus Scotland and Switzerland versus South Korea’s games ended in a 1-1 tie.

The group games will continue on Friday March 7^th.

Fixtures for March 7^th:

14.30 Republic of Ireland – South Korea   (Group C)

14.30 Finland – England                                (Group A)

14.30 Scotland – Netherlands                      (Group B)

17.30 Italy – Canada                                      (Group A)

17.30 Australia v France                                (Group B)

17.30 Switzerland – New Zealand               (Group C)