Here is Gavin Cummiskey’s match report:
[ Ireland secure victory against Turkey from the jaws of inaccuracyOpens in new window ]
That’s all from me for tonight, good night!
Carla Ward on RTÉ: It was scrappy, wasn’t it? But the clean sheet was the most important thing. We need to keep believing, we need to calm down on the ball. It’s a big three points, because it wasn’t pretty, we want to play in a way attractive. Three points, we move onto Slovenia.
This is a wonderful group of people, we have to get back on the training pitch to make it work. I went up to Denise O’Sullivan and told her, what a performance, she’s a top, top player. She’s been an absolute joy and pleasure to work with.
90+5 mins: Denise O’Sullivan wins a deserved player of the match award. She almost plays Larkin in soon after but more good defending by Turkey.
Full-time: Ireland 1 Turkey 0
A win is a win, but that was not a good performance by Ireland. Sloppy and struggled with the wind. But Carusa’s goal was the difference. Three points on the board though, and something to build on.
90 mins: Brosnan has to quickly react from a clever lofted through ball by Hancar. A few moments later, they have a free-kick in a dangerous area.
Then a big chance! Karabulut after the ball got knocked down from the free, lunging from six yards out she should hit the target.
Ireland 1 Turkey 0
86 mins: Campbell comes off for Hayes for the last few minutes as Ireland look to keep a clean sheet and get the three points.
Ireland 1 Turkey 0
83 mins: Oh dear, O’Sullivan gets another nasty tackle, a shoulder into the back from Başak İçinözbebek, (not the easiest name to remember that one!). Denise will remember her though after that awful challenge, inexplicably not given a yellow card.
Ireland 1 Turkey 0
80 mins: 8,071 in attendance in Tallaght tonight as Civelek takes out O’Sullivan from behind to give Ireland a dangerous free-kick. McCabe strangely gets a yellow card before it, possibly for dissent. McCabe’s free-kick is badly overhit.
Ireland 1 Turkey 0
76 mins: Better play from Ireland, Payne with a nice turn, then lays off to Littlejohn who hits a good through ball through to McCabe. She beats her marker and then crosses to Barrett who can’t get her foot over it.
More subs Connolly joins the proceedings for Littlejohn.
Ireland 1 Turkey 0
70 mins: O’Sullivan and Payne link well to win a corner. Not a great corner though by McCabe and she then overruns the ball and loses it, not been her best night.
Corner for Turkey is well taken by Cal, Brosnan punches it out for another corner. Seker’s corner nearly goes in straight, Campbell heads it off the line! Wind took that one.
Ireland 1 Turkey 0
67 mins: O’Sullivan nearly gets in behind from a decent pass by Littlejohn but collected comfortably by the keeper. Then Barrett holds the ball up well and McCabe’s cross is cleared. Turkey’s best play tonight Keskin takes a weak shot then from a quick counter attack.
Ireland 1 Turkey 0
62 mins: A bit of a lull in the game, which is probably why Carla Ward looks to be preparing a few subs from the bench.
On comes Amber Barrett and Abbie Larkin for Lucy Quinn and Kyra Carusa. Barrett can be good for a goal as a sub.
Ireland 1 Turkey 0
57 mins: Turkey not giving Ireland much space to work with, they’ve been well drilled. No chances to speak of this half for Ireland.
Ireland 1 Turkey 0
52 mins: A rare foul throw given against Turkish player Civalek, then a few moments later a yellow card for Seker.
Ireland 1 Turkey 0
The second half is under way.
48 mins: Some early possession for Ireland as they look at add a second goal, Turkey have to come out and play a bit to try to get back in it.
Ireland 1 Turkey 0
Half-time: Ireland 1 Turkey 0
Not the best performance by Ireland ever on a blustery night in Tallaght, but Carusa’s superb header gives them the lead at half-time and going into the break with a boost.
45+3 mins: GOAL FOR IRELAND! Ireland get their goal, Carusa with a looping header over Akgoz. Nice cross by Payne from the edge of the box and an excellent header by the striker.
Ireland 1 Turkey 0
45 mins: Turkey have been athletic and spirited so far, with a strong press that has caused Ireland plenty of problems.
Ireland 0 Turkey 0
42 mins: McCabe with a dangerous set-piece as Campbell nearly gets to it, set-pieces have been Ireland’s best chance of a goal so far.
Ireland 0 Turkey 0
39 mins: Brosnan has to act sharply to clear as Turkey were almost in after a very sloppy pass by Campbell at the back, nearly a tap-in for the Turkey player. Then Topcu fouls Payne after a good touch from Littlejohn, free-kick from 30 yards out. They try a quick set-piece, Littlejohn with a short one to O’Sullivan to Quinn but it’s overhit out of play.
Ireland 0 Turkey 0
36 mins: Too many misplaced passes by Ireland so far, Carla Ward looks a bit concerned on the touchline.
Ireland 0 Turkey 0
33 mins: Bit of a sluggish start by Ireland, they would have expected more now. O’Sullivan makes a trademark swivel past the defender but her pass to the wing is well overhit.
Ireland 0 Turkey 0
30 mins: After an injury break for a Turkey player, nice pass by O’Sullivan to Mannion who puts a cross into Sheva but she can’t get it on target.
Ireland 0 Turkey 0
Sadly after that great long throw, Campbell is getting strapped up after a bad collision. But she hopes to get back on.
22 mins: Penalty claim for a foul on Carusa, could have been outside the box, but no foul. Carusa looked like she was pushed by the Turkey defender.
Campbell launches one of those signature long throws and it causes absolute havoc! Carusa’s flick on is well saved by the keeper. A few chances in there, the best of which is Denise O’Sullivan whose low shot is cleared off the line by Sakar.
Ireland 0 Turkey 0
19 mins: Dangerous corner by McCabe causes trouble for the Turkish defence, almost falls to Campbell but she can’t get a shot away.
Ireland 0 Turkey 0
15 mins: Great long pass by Patten to Heather Payne over the top but she can’t keep it under control. Turkey have gone deep in their defensive line and Ireland yet to have a shot on goal yet.
Ireland 0 Turkey 0
11 mins: Ireland’s first corner of the game taken by Katie McCabe isn’t great and Turkey try to counter but well cut out by Payne. Some possession for Ireland, nice touch by Patten in the build-up to a long play but they don’t manage to get a shot on target after it all.
Ireland 0 Turkey 0
8 mins: Another long-range attempt by Littlejohn, even further out though and a more questionable decision, straight at the keeper.
Ireland 0 Turkey 0
5 mins: Another corner for Turkey, won by Keskin, the corner is put into a dangerous area but well collected by Brosnan.
Then an effort from distance for Ireland, Littlejohn trying to replicate what she did against Wales by taking a long-range shot. Worth a go and not too far away, but goes over the crossbar.
Ireland 0 Turkey 0
2 mins: Early pressure from Turkey who get an early corner which is cleared well by the Irish defence.
Ireland 0 Turkey 0
The teams are coming out on the pitch. Good atmosphere in Tallaght.
An interview with Heather Payne, with the versatile Everton player to pass the half-century mark of international caps against Turkey.
“I’m super proud,” she says. “When you’re playing under-15 for Ireland you don’t really think about 50 senior caps, you just hope that you’ll make the squad. And to have played in a World Cup in those 50 caps is amazing as well.
“But I don’t want to just stop at 50, I want to keep going and get as many caps as possible. There are some players in the squad who’ve reached 100, if I could do that, that would be brilliant.”
[ Heather Payne in the mood to hit more milestones for IrelandOpens in new window ]
A lot of familiar faces in the first side chosen by Carla Ward, not making wholesale changes.
For Turkey, Miray Cin is on the bench, she plays for Freiburg in the GPFBL. The vast majority of the team is home-based otherwise, Midfielder Ebru Topcu has the most caps with 67 and 20 goals scored.
Ireland team to play Turkey: Brosnan; Campbell, Mannion, Patten; Payne, Littlejohn, O’Sullivan, Quinn, McCabe (capt); Carusa, Sheva
Turkey: Akgoz; Sakar, Hiz, Abrahamsson, Civelek; Topcu, Cal, Keskin, Turkoglu, Seker, Pekel
Some quotes from Mary’s piece from captain Katie McCabe and how the defeat to Wales left her in a low place:
“Some of the best feelings I’ve had in my life have been on a football pitch. That day in the Aviva was definitely one of the worst. What we do on the pitch matters for women’s football in Ireland and the future of grassroots football. So yeah, it was devastating.”
On the decision to move away from Eileen Gleeson and Colin Healy:
“A lot of the girls were surprised, from the point of view of how well we got on, the connection and the good environment they created. I want to say a big thanks to Eileen and Colin for everything they’ve done. They brought in a real energy and freshness to the team. We created unbelievable, special moments together – we went on a really nice run in the Nations League and got a massive result down in Cork against France.”
“Unfortunately we didn’t qualify for the Euros and the FAI made a decision off the back of that, so we need to look forward now, towards how we’re going to qualify for the 2027 World Cup. That starts on Friday night with our new manager in place.”
The match preview from Mary Hannigan:
Leanne Kiernan has been ruled out of the game with a calf injury, although Ward hasn’t given up on the Liverpool striker being fit for Tuesday’s game away to Slovenia. She admitted she left several players disappointed by not including them in her first squad, but suggested there would be new faces come April for the home and away games against Greece.
She was impressed by what she saw in Wednesday’s game between the Irish under-19s and a development squad, “the amount of quality coming through is really exciting”, she said. “There are quite a few that I liked, and one or two in particular need to get involved early [with the senior squad] so they’re put in positions that stress them. It’s important that we try to do that as early as possible.”
[ Ireland look to the future as Carla Ward’s reign kicks off against TurkeyOpens in new window ]
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Women’s Nations League game between Ireland and Turkey, in Tallaght Stadium. Kick-off is at 7.30pm. It’s the first game for Carla Ward after replacing Eileen Gleeson at the helm and Ireland are looking to bounce back from missing out on Euro 2025 with a good performance tonight. It’s a chance for some new faces to get a run-out, while still having a lot of quality in the squad with the likes of Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan.
Here is the Ireland WNT Squad:
Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Sophie Whitehouse (Charlton Athletic), Grace Moloney (Unattached).
Defenders: Heather Payne (Everton), Jessie Stapleton (Sunderland – on loan from West Ham United), Anna Patten (Aston Villa), Aoife Mannion (Manchester United), Caitlin Hayes (Brighton & Hove Albion), Megan Campbell (London City Lionesses), Katie McCabe (Arsenal).
Midfielders: Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Megan Connolly (Lazio), Tyler Toland (Blackburn Rovers), Ruesha Littlejohn (Unattached), Marissa Sheva (Unattached), Melisa Filis (Charlton Athletic).
Forwards: Leanne Kiernan (Liverpool), Kyra Carusa (San Diego Wave), Abbie Larkin (Crystal Palace), Amber Barrett (Standard Liege), Izzy Atkinson (Crystal Palace), Lucy Quinn (Birmingham City), Emily Murphy (Newcastle United).
