Galway United’s Emily Fitzgerald came off the bench in the Republic of Ireland under-17s 2-1 win over South Korea in Portugal.
Anna Butler and Katie Lawlee got the Ireland goals. The girls in green play hosts Portugal in another friendly next Wednesday.
==
This was the first of two International Friendly games for the Ireland Women's Under 17s in Portugal this month as they prepare for the upcoming UEFA European Championship Qualifiers in March.It proved to be a good run-out for the Young Girls in Green, facing a fast and skilful South Korean team in Estádio Dr. Alves Vieira .The game started evenly enough, with both teams finding their feet in the game. 20 minutes in, Bohemians ace Aoibhe Brennan managed to get a shot on target which was saved. On 29 minutes, goalkeeper Clodagh Fitzgerald found herself under pressure at the goal line but managed to save the strike to keep it scoreless.Shelbourne's Lucy O’Rourke tried to catch the South Korean goalkeeper out on 37 minutes with a shot, but the score remained 0-0.Right before half-time, South Korea applied good pressure from the front line, Fitzgerald wasn’t able to get the pass away and Han Gukhee got the shot off to put South Korea one up.Ireland were looking to get back into it in the second half and on 74 minutes, the ball fell to Shamrock Rovers forward Anna Butler in the box and she make no mistake with the first time shot to level things up.Then on 82 minutes, Treaty United's Katie Lawlee unleashed a wicked strike on the edge of the box, but was saved by the South Korean goalkeeper.Just when it looked like the game would finish one a piece, a free-kick fell to substitute Katie O’Reilly who swung the ball back into the danger zone. The ball landed at Kiera Sena’s feet and she make no mistake with a fantastic controlled finish to grab Ireland the win.This was a brilliant win against a talented South Korean team and sets the WU17s up nicely to take on Portugal in their next International Friendly on Wednesday.Ireland: Clodagh Fitzgerald; Lucy O’Rourke, Keeva Flynn, Keelin Dodd (Ciara Fitzpatrick), Kiera Sena; Anna Hegarty (Lucy Fitzgerald), Anna Butler (Emily Fitzgerald), Aoibhe Brennan; Ella Kelly, Katie Lawlee (Amy Tierney), Rebecca Devereux (Katie O’Reilly). -Ireland WU17 SquadGoalkeepers: Clodagh Fitzgerald (Cork City), Enya Carthy (SJEB Academy – USA)Defenders: Emma Duffy (Galway United), Lucy O'Rourke (Shelbourne), Clodagh Daly (Shamrock Rovers), Ciara Fitzpatrick (Cork City), Keeva Flynn (Sligo Rovers), Della Cowper Gray (Shamrock Rovers), Keelin Dodd (DLR Waves), Kiera Sena (Cork City)Midfielders: Aoibhe Brennan (Bohemians), Amy Tierney (Shamrock Rovers), Lucy Fitzgerald (Athlone Town), Anna Hegarty (Bohemians), Ella Kelly (Shamrock Rovers)Forwards: Katie Lawlee (Treaty United), Hannah O'Brien (Shelbourne), Sorcha Melia (Shamrock Rovers), Rebecca Devereux (Shelbourne), Anna Butler (Shamrock Rovers), Emily Fitzgerald (Galway United), Katie O'Reilly (Shamrock Rovers) Fixtures / ResultsJanuary 19 | South Korea 1-2 Ireland, Estádio Dr. Alves Vieira (Torres Novas)January 24 | Portugal v Ireland, Campo Chã das Padeiras, em Santarém, KO 15:00
