Above: Saorise Noonan fights for the ball against Slovenia. Image: Ireland Football Twitter.
By Alyce Collett (3/6/25).
It was a bittersweet end to the UEFA Nations League campaign for the Republic of Ireland, who despite beating Slovenia 1-0 have failed to top their League B group after not winning by a big enough margin.
The home side dominated possession all night, but just could not get many shots on target, which meant Saoirse Noonan’s first half goal was the only one they were able to record, falling three short of the desired margin to top the group. The result means that the Girls in Green now face a play off in October for a second chance to try and get back into League A.
There was a high level of alertness to the Republic of Ireland’s play early on. It was clear the Girls in Green knew what was at stake today so they were not going to let any balls slip through or attention drop off at any stage.
It was not resulting in a high number of threatening shots on goal, but after some at times concerning performances from the Girls in Green this Nations League season, there was hope for those in the home camp that things were going to be different today.
Eventually the first goal came almost 20 minutes in, after Noonan headed home a well placed Jessie Stapleton cross to get things going for the home side.
Both sides were giving their all to the contest, with both sides having multiple players come up worse the wear from contests. One thing that the Republic of Ireland was doing really well was using the width of the pitch, maximising the pace of the likes of Emily Murphy and Abbie Larkin.
However a crowded penalty box meant that goals were not plentiful in the first half, with Noonan’s the only one before the break. Lana Golob, Dominika Čonč and the rest of the Slovenian defenders definitely did not make things easy for the Irish despite the home side’s dominance in attacking play.
The half time stats really told the story of Ireland’s dominance. The Irish had 24% more of the possession and 10 more shots on goal than the Slovenians, but unfortunately for the Irish they only had two more shots on target than their opponents recorded.
The Irish started the second half much like they ended the first – on the front foot on the possession front, but not getting the shots on target they needed.
Slovenia defended really well, crowding the box and making it harder for the central attackers of Ireland to have much wiggle room. This forced the Republic of Ireland to go aerially, but they were not getting the accuracy on the headers they were needing.
As the minutes ticked down and at times frustrations started to simmer, those extra goals the Republic of Ireland desperately needed were looking less and less likely to come.
Teams: REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (4-3-3): Brosnan, McCabe, Patten, Stapeleton, Hayes, Carusa, Noonan, Murphy, O’Sullivan, Sheva, Connolly, Larkin. Substitutes: Campbell, Louise Quinn, Mannion, Toland, Littlejohn, Barrett, Healy, Clancy, Moloney, Mustaki, Whitehouse.
Scorers: Noonan 19’
SLOVENIA (4-4-2): Mersnik, Erzen, Golob, Čonč, Agrez, Kramzar, Korosec. Markovec, Prasnikar, Kolbl, Stemad. Substitutes: Vindisar, Testen, Kajzba, Zver, Kastelec, Kustrin, Krizaj, Ketis, Milovic, Janez, Pasar.
Referee: Miriama Bočková [SVK]
Attendance: 9,433
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