Ireland to face Northern Ireland in Cyprus Cup opener
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The Republic of Ireland Senior Women’s team will open the Cyprus Cup on Wednesday with a match against Northern Ireland in Larnaca at 3.30pm (Irish time).
The squad trained twice in the Mediterranean sunshine today and manager Sue Ronan said all 22 players took part in what were two very productive sessions.
“Up until now we have worked very hard on her defensive shape and aside from the games against France and the USA last year it’s a system that has worked well for us. The girls know it at this stage so we are now starting to focus on the attacking side of our game and that’s what we concentrated on today,” said Ronan.
The squad includes six uncapped players and only six players have won 20 or more caps but Ronan is happy with the way the new players are already integrating into the squad with newly appointed skipper Emma Byrne playing an important role.
The Ireland manager revealed she intends to field her strongest starting line-up against Northern Ireland for a variety of reasons.
“We obviously want to get off to a good start and lay down a marker for the rest of the tournament but we are also sharing the same hotel as Northern Ireland so it would nice to be able to walk around for the next week with our heads held high.”
Ronan has tremendous admiration for the massive progress Northern Ireland have made over the last few years. Their under-age squads have started to qualify for the Elite Rounds and the seniors took a notable scalp during the recent European Championship qualifiers when they beat Norway 3-1.
“Their manager, Alfie Wylie is very experienced and he will have them fired up for this game. It’s a local derby and both teams will want to win it very badly.”
Cyprus Women’s Cup
Group C
Wednesday, March 6: Northern Ireland v Republic of Ireland, Dasaki Achnas Stadium, Larnaca, 3.30pm (Irish time)
Friday, March 8: Republic of Ireland v South Africa, Tasos Marko Stadium, Paralimni, 12.30pm (Irish time)
Monday, March 11: South Korea v Republic of Ireland, Tasos Marko, Paralimni, 3.30pm (Irish time)
Wednesday 13 March: Finals Day, Details TBC.
