They’ve had limited enough opportunities during Vera Pauw’s reign as Republic of Ireland manager, winning just six caps between them, so Dubliner Emily Whelan and Wicklow woman Claire Walsh are both very long shots for inclusion in her World Cup squad. On the club front, though, things couldn’t be sweeter, the pair winning the Scottish Premier League title with Glasgow City on Sunday.
It was one heck of a climax to the title race too, a trio of Glasgow clubs – City, Celtic and Rangers – having all been in contention going into the final weekend.
Celtic, 2-0 winners over Hearts, had a hand and a half on the trophy until Lauren Davidson’s 92nd-minute winner for City at Ibrox over a Rangers side that had broken their complete domination of Scottish football last season. Until then they had won 14 titles in a row, but once Rangers and Celtic began investing in the women’s side of their operations they suddenly had a challenge.
But they’re back on top of the tree, the only consolation for Celtic – and their Limerick defender Claire O’Riordan – that they secured Champions League qualification ahead of Rangers.
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Further south, there was mixed news for Pauw. On the encouraging side was the return to action of Niamh Fahey and Leanne Kiernan for Liverpool, Fahey having been out injured since January, Kiernan since the opening day of the season back in September.
Fahey started, but was taken off at half time, Kiernan coming on for the last half-hour of the 3-3 draw away to Aston Villa. Worryingly, though, their team-mate Megan Campbell was absent for the fifth game in a row, the club as yet providing no update on her injury status. With any luck that absence is down to the likelihood that she will leave the club this summer, her contract negotiations having broken down.
Further worries: Aoife Mannion was missing from the Manchester United squad for the derby against City on Sunday, a game they had to win to keep the WSL title race alive after Chelsea beat Arsenal 2-0 earlier in the day – Katie McCabe missing her second penalty in a row in the game.
Courtney Brosnan, meanwhile, was left on the bench again by Everton for their 2-1 win over Brighton, for whom her fellow goalie Megan Walsh and midfielder Megan Connolly started.
At the other end of the WSL table, Grace Moloney and Diane Caldwell are edging ever closer to relegation following Reading’s 4-1 defeat by Spurs, a result that leaves them two points adrift of Leicester with just one game to play. Their opponents in their final fixture? Champions-elect Chelsea. Strewth.
