With Martin O’Neill’s senior Republic Of Ireland side struggling to score of late, they could do worse than take some tips from our Under-17 Women’s team who clocked up a remarkable 14-0 victory today.
Colin Bell’s girls took on Albania today in the opening match of their European Championships qualifying round in Serbia and duly racked up a scoreline so rare in Irish football that the record books will surely need to be dusted off and rewritten.
Ireland got off to an absolute flyer and were ahead 7-0 by the time the referee blew the half-time whistle. Two goals each from Eabha O’Mahony, Emily Whelan and Emily Kraft, as well as a solitary strike from Jessica Ziu had the Girls In Green out of sight.
HT: #IRLWU17???????? 7-0 Albania
Eabha O’Mahony ⚽️⚽️
Emily Whelan ⚽️⚽️
Emily Kraft ⚽️⚽️
Jessica Ziu ⚽️Remarkable performance from Colin Bell’s side in the first-half in Serbia! ????
LIVE ???? https://t.co/aCvZ1jujIm #COYGIG pic.twitter.com/wVs8Idhzre
— FAIreland ⚽️???????? (@FAIreland) October 22, 2018
The streak continued in the second half with Kraft, who was making her debut, adding two more, while Whelan and Ziu helped themselves to another goal each. Katelyn Keogh got her name on the scoresheet with two late goals before Mia Dodd completed the astonishing 14-0 scoreline in the dying seconds.
FT: #IRLWU17???????? 1⃣4⃣-0⃣ Albania
Eabha O’Mahony ⚽️⚽️
Emily Whelan ⚽️⚽️⚽️
Emily Kraft ⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️
Jessica Ziu ⚽️⚽️
Katelyn Keogh ⚽️⚽️
Mia Dodd ⚽️What a performance from the #IRLWU17???????? with debutant Emily Kraft scoring four goals! #COYGIG ???? pic.twitter.com/TepSUq8JWX
— FAIreland ⚽️???????? (@FAIreland) October 22, 2018
With a result like that, it’s fair to say that the future of women’s football in Ireland is in good hands. Next up for the free-scoring girls will be a match against Wales on Thursday before they play hosts Serbia on Sunday.
(header pic: FAI)