FT: Georgia 0 Ireland 6
Mary Hannigan’s report has landed.
“It wasn’t quite the cruise that the last meetings with Georgia were, those 2023 World Cup qualifying 11-0 and 9-0 drubbings, but the Republic of Ireland’s 6-0 playoff victory in Tbilisi on Friday nudges them one step closer to making it to the European Championships for the first time,” she writes.
“Two goals from Katie McCabe, a sublime finish from Kyra Carusa and first international goals for Jessie Stapleton, Marissa Sheva and Aoife Mannion should – barring a Georgia comeback of biblical proportions – make Tuesday’s return leg in Tallaght a formality.”
Take a read of the full report below:
[ Ireland finally break down Georgia as goals flow late on in TbilisiOpens in new window ]
That’s all from me for tonight. A great result for Ireland, putting us in a strong position heading into the second leg next Tuesday.
That game will take place at Tallaght Stadium kicking off at 7pm with live coverage again on RTÉ 2.
Oíche mhaith.
So our goalscorers tonight were: Katie McCabe (36 pen, 67), Kyra Carusa (59), Jessie Stapleton (82), Marissa Sheva (90+7) and Aoife Mannion (90+10).
Elsewhere, Slovakia v Wales ended 2-1 after a late goal from Ffion Morgan. Slovakia travel to Cardiff next Tuesday for the second leg.
FT: Georgia 0 Ireland 6
FULL TIME: Georgia 0 Ireland 6
Patience pays off for Ireland.
Abbie Larkin named player of the match by Áine O’Gorman on comms for RTÉ. Well deserved for Dubliner, led the charge up front.
100 mins: GOAL FOR IRELAND!
Katie McCabe sends it in to the edge of the box. Aoife Mannion gets her head to it and it’s a fifth goal for Eileen Gleeson’s team.
Referee blows the final whistle. It’s all over in Tbilisi.
Georgia 0 Ireland 6
97 mins: GOAL FOR IRELAND!
Momentum has all but left the game, but Marissa Sheva sends one long and finds the back of the net. Georgia’s goalkeeper looks utterly resigned at this stage.
Georgia 0 Ireland 5
94 mins: Ireland – Isibeal Atkinson on, Julie-Ann Russell off.
Georgia 0 Ireland 4
90 mins: Georgia – Lizi Mtskerashvili on, Ana Cheminava off.
Ten minutes added on.
Georgia 0 Ireland 4
88 mins: Goal stands. Lovely stuff.
Georgia 0 Ireland 4
86 mins: Fierce long VAR check. Georgia’s fans are enjoying themselves regardless, great singsong going on in the stands.
Georgia 0 Ireland 4*
82 mins: GOAL FOR IRELAND!
This time it’s Jessie Stapleton on the end of it.
They’re checking for a potential handball.
Georgia 0 Ireland 4
75 mins: Ireland – Abbie Larkin and Tyler Toland off, Leanne Kiernan and Jessie Stapleton on.
Georgia – Irina Khaburdzania off, Tinatin Ambalia on.
Georgia 0 Ireland 3
71 mins: Georgia – Lizi Kankia on, Nino Pasikashvili off.
Georgia 0 Ireland 3
67 mins: GOAL FOR IRELAND!
Katie McCabe sends a long shot in over Gabunia’s head to earn Ireland’s third goal. A stunner of a goal, but the goalkeeper will be sickened.
Georgia 0 Ireland 3
66 mins: Ireland are playing with a bit more flare now they’ve got the extra breathing room, and Georgia are visibly tiring.
Georgia 0 Ireland 2
59 mins: GOAL FOR IRELAND!
From nowhere, Abbie Larkin picks out Denise O’Sullivan who sends the shot into the box for Kyra Carusa.
Carusa puts a beautiful heel flick on it to put it into the Georgian net.
Georgia 0 Ireland 2
58 mins: Georgia are slowing the play in an attempt to catch a breather. Constant defending is tiring work.
Ireland are staying patient.
Georgia 0 Ireland 1
56 mins: Ireland – Marissa Sheva on, Lily Agg off.
Georgia 0 Ireland 1
53 mins: Chance for Katie McCabe but again Gabunia gets a slight touch to it to send it over the crossbar.
Georgia 0 Ireland 1
49 mins: Ireland are putting the push and speeding up the play.
McCabe spots a gap but overcooks the pass to Denise O’Sullivan on the wing.
Georgia 0 Ireland 1
46 mins: Back in action in Tbilisi. Let’s hope this is the scoring half.
Georgia 0 Ireland 1
Let’s take a look at how things are going in Poprad.
Slovakia have gone two ahead of Wales with just over 70 minutes on the clock there.
Remember, winner on aggregate of Ireland and Georgia will go on to meet the winner of Slovakia and Wales in the second round. Winner of that goes to Euro 2025.
HALF-TIME: Georgia 0 Ireland 1
HALF-TIME: Georgia 0 Ireland 1
It hasn’t been the score-laden game we might have been expecting, but Ireland are nonetheless ahead at the break thanks to a penalty from Katie McCabe.
Georgia are putting all their efforts into defending, which is proving rather successful, but the cracks are starting to show. Ireland just need to stay patient and make their shots stick.
47 mins: Bebia draws a free near the corner and she floats it over the box. No issue for Ireland’s defence. Back up the pitch we go.
Georgia 0 Ireland 1
42 mins: Denise O’Sullivan and Abbie Larkin are leading the relentless Irish attack.
A touch by O’Sullivan is deflected out, giving McCabe another chance to pull the strings from the corner.
Goalkeeper Gabunia is once again solid under pressure to block the shot. She’s Georgia’s player of the game so far, an indication of how things are going for them.
Georgia 0 Ireland 1
36 mins: GOAL! Never in doubt, McCabe finds the back of the net from the penalty spot to give Ireland the lead.
Georgia 0 Ireland 1
34 mins: Penatly for Ireland for a handball in the box. Captain Katie McCabe stands up to the placed ball.
Georgia 0 Ireland 0
31 mins: Julie-Ann Russell pops a nice pass to Katie McCabe who sends the cross to the oncoming Abbie Larkin.
Larkin’s under pressure from the Georgian defender and her touch goes just to the right of the woodwork.
Georgia 0 Ireland 0
30 mins: Georgia have come to this with a game plan and so far it’s working. Despite the pressure they’re holding Ireland out and Gabunia has been strong between the sticks for the home team.
Georgia 0 Ireland 0
19 mins: Georgia force a nice turnover just inside their own half but it doesn’t last long. Ireland get it back and they’re on the attack again.
Katie McCabe finds Kyra Carusa on the edge of the square who taps it to Denise O’Sullivan but her shot is right at the goalkeeper.
Georgia 0 Ireland 0
23 mins: Very welcoming crowd for Katie McCabe, she’s booed setting up her corner under a nest of particularly vocal home fans.
Georgian goalkeeper Gabunia palms the corner kick left and wide. Abbie Larkin’s subsequent corner ends in a free out.
Georgia 0 Ireland 0
16 mins: Georgian free kick comfortably dealt with by Grace Moloney.
Georgia 0 Ireland 0
13 mins: Decent chance for Ireland but ends in a free for a foul on Georgia’s goalkeeper Gabunia.
Abbie Larkin sends a cross in to find O’Sullivan running for the box, but the referee blows the whistle before O’Sullivan gets her shot off.
Georgia are crowding their defence but Ireland are taking their time to spot the passes. Slow and steady.
Georgia 0 Ireland 0
8 mins: Bebia makes a break up the pitch for Georgia but it’s messy. Irish defence deal with it easily and return the play back towards the Georgian end.
Georgia 0 Ireland 0
5 mins: Corner kick for Ireland floated in but Larkin drifts it wide. Georgia already coming under pressure.
Georgia 0 Ireland 0
3 mins: Early chance for Denise O’Sullivan. She sends a long shot in but it pulls left and wide.
O’Sullivan bagged a hat-trick when Georgia last visited Dublin so they’re sure to be keeping an eye on her.
Georgia 0 Ireland 0
Pictures taken, hands shaken – we’re ready to go in Tbilisi.
Abbie Larkin gets the game under way.
Georgia 0 Ireland 0
FIVE MINUTE WARNING. Teams are about to come out on to the pitch for the anthems.
There was a slightly earlier kick-off in Poprad where Slovakia are hosting Wales.
Winner of that two-leg battle faces the winner of ourselves and Georgia, so we’ll keep an eye on that result.
They’re currently 15 minutes into the first half and it’s 0-0.
GEORGIA: Gabunia; Gasviani, Kalandadze, Chkhartishvili, Narsia; Pasikashvili, Danelia, Bebia; Kadagishvili, Khaburdzania, Cheminava (Capt).
Replacements: Tabagari, Gabelaia, Kvelidze, Kvirdvaia, Bolkvadze, Ambalia, Mtskerashvili, Kankia, Chikovani, Dimopoulou.
And here’s the full starting XI:
IRELAND: Moloney; Hayes, Toland, O’Sullivan McCabe (capt); Patten, Mannion, Agg, Carusa; Larkin; Russell.
Replacements: Keane, Whitehouse, Stapleton, Mangan, Fahey, Caldwell, Sheva, Barrett, Payne, Molloy, Kiernan, Atkinson.
London City Lionesses’ Grace Moloney gets the nod in goals in the absence of Courtney Brosnan.
“Coming off the back of a sobering opening phase to qualifying, when they lost five of their six group games against England, Sweden and France, this challenge should be much more akin to the one Gleeson faced when she took over from Vera Pauw,” Mary Hannigan writes in her preview of today’s game.
“In that Nations League group, they swept Hungary, Northern Ireland and Albania aside. They will expect to do the same to Georgia again.”
Mary seems to think a Georgian upset is unlikely. In Mary we trust.
Speaking of squads, how are we looking?
Well we’re not without any significant injuries or absences, but we’re still looking strong.
David Gorman put together a handy guide in advance of the game, giving us this injury wrap:
- Louise Quinn (hip) and Megan Connolly (hamstring) will miss both games through injury and will not be replaced in the squad
- Goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan is suspended for the game in Georgia
- Former Wexford Youths attacker Ellen Molloy has been passed fit despite limping out of Sheffield United’s game against Blackburn Rovers on Sunday
Ruesha Littlejohn (Achilles), Megan Campbell (ankle), Jess Ziu (knee) and Jamie Finn (knee) had already been ruled out, while Emily Murphy is unavailable after her North Carolina college refused to release her.
[ Georgia v Ireland: TV details, kick-off time, team news and moreOpens in new window ]
We’re yet to learn this evening’s starting XI, but here’s the full Ireland squad:
Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Grace Moloney (London City Lionesses), Sophie Whitehouse (Charlton Athletic), Katie Keane (Athlone Town).
Defenders: Jessie Stapleton (Sunderland, on loan from West Ham United), Diane Caldwell (FC Zurich), Niamh Fahey (Liverpool), Aoife Mannion (Manchester United), Caitlin Hayes (Celtic), Anna Patten (Aston Villa).
Midfielders: Katie McCabe (Arsenal), Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Tyler Toland (Blackburn Rovers), Lily Agg (Birmingham City), Ellen Molloy (Sheffield United), Heather Payne (Everton), Izzy Atkinson (Crystal Palace), Eva Mangan (Cork City).
Forwards: Kyra Carusa (San Diego Wave), Amber Barrett (Standard Liege), Leanne Kiernan (Liverpool), Abbie Larkin (Crystal Palace), Julie-Ann Russell (Galway United), Marissa Sheva (Portland Thorns).
How’s our record against Georgia? In a word – glowing.
We faced the Georgians in Group A of the qualifiers for last year’s World Cup. Both the home game in November 2021 and the away leg the following June ended resoundingly in our favour.
Ireland played out an 11-0 win at Tallaght Stadium before taking a 9-0 away victory in Gori.
No wonder the squad look so jolly in advance of this evening’s game.
Afternoon everyone and welcome to The Irish Times’ live blog for Georgia v Republic of Ireland. Muireann Duffy here to take you through this Euro 2025 Round 1 playoff fixture.
Eileen Gleeson’s team are in Tbilisi for the first leg of this encounter. Kick-off at Mikheil Meskhi II Stadium is at 5pm Irish time and the game will be televised live on RTÉ 2.
Next Tuesday, Gerogia will make the return trip to Tallaght Stadium (kick-off at 7.30pm). The winner on aggregate after the two games will go on to play the winner of Wales and Slovakia in the next two-leg round.
The winner from that second set of games will earn a spot at next year’s Euros in Switzerland.
Going off recent results against Georgia Ireland will be confident heading into this evening’s fixture, but with a spot at their first Euros on the line there’s no room for complacency.
Follow along as we take you through the build up and live updates from the match.
