News that Galway defender Savannah McCarthy suffered an ACL injury last week is not only devastating for the Tribeswomen but for the Ireland national team too.
The Kerry woman has established herself as first choice in Vera Pauw’s back three in recent months following an inspired performance in the friendly win over Australia.
Ireland are poised in second place, behind Olympic finalists Sweden, after four games, which included a 2-1 win away to Finland last year.
With a trip coming up to face the Swedes in Gothenburg next month, Vera has a headache about who will fill the Savannah-shaped hole in the back three.
Louise Quinn, the Birmingham captain, is an automatic pick in the centre of the three and Liverpool captain Niamh Fahey will surely continue on the right.
Vera is lucky that she has a number of candidates to fill the third position on the left (or the right if the versatile Fahey can be pulled across) and we’ll outline them here.
Diane Caldwell
The most likely replacement for McCarthy is the player she supplanted in the team just a few months ago, Diane Caldwell.
The Balbriggan native has an unquestionable international record with 85 caps at the heart of Irish defence, with four goals.
She scored against Greece and Montenegro in Euro 2021 qualifying, her third and fourth international goals, and remains a key figure in the Irish dressing room.
Diane arrived at North Carolina Courage, where she was a teammate of Denise O’Sullivan, in 2021 before joining Manchester United.
Now, playing with her childhood club, she is on the cusp on Champions League qualification and perfectly placed to step back in.
Jess Gleeson
Jess Gleeson has been a player reborn since swapping Shelbourne for DLR Waves two years ago.
It’s always a tough decision for a player to swap serial title contenders for a young squad in a building phase but she quickly emerged as a leader.
The Waterford native, and a former minor camogie All-Ireland winner, made her international debut as a teenager with Wexford Youths.
She’s now playing the best football of her career in an exciting team of potential league winners at Waves under the tutelage of Graham Kelly.
Her ability to play off both feet is a key attribute, as is her ability to shoot from distance as a free-kick specialist inside and outside the opposition half.
Jessie Stapleton
Is there anything Jessie Stapleton can’t do? Two more goals at the weekend against Cork City at the weekend underlined the teenager’s prodigious potential.
The clock on her time at Shelbourne is ticking down as the only thing keeping her from professional football in Europe is her Leaving Cert.
Jessie will have the world at her feet once she finishes school and the fact she was called up to the Ireland squad at 16 says it all.
Ex-Ireland boss Noel King, after making her first signing from Shamrock Rovers, deployed her everywhere from centre half to left wing in their title-winning season.
Her future lies in the centre, whether in defence or midfield, but Vera Pauw has clearly seen what a future the Shels player has.
Claire Walsh
Claire left Peamount United midway through their league-winning campaign in 2020 to sign pro terms with Glasgow City in Scotland.
Centre-back strife and Peamount are peas, excuse the pun, in a pod as the Greenogue side also lost Niamh Farrelly to the same side later that year.
Farrelly is naturally a midfielder, and will also be considered by Pauw, but Walsh plays the position every week after quickly establishing herself as first-choice in Glasgow.
Like the others mentioned before, Walsh is a ball-player first and foremost but she’s tall, athletic and puts her head where it might hurt.
Lauren Dwyer
The Wexford Youths defender, like Gleeson, has been a while out of the international mix but she can’t be overlooked.
She doesn’t have the height of Gleeson or Stapleton but she more than makes up for it with her positional sense and intelligence on and off the ball.
Youths have had a rough couple of years with managerial changes and some struggles in the league but they’ve always competed.
And the times they’ve struggled always coincided with Dwyer’s absence, and her outstanding performance in the FAI Cup final win over Shels is a case in point.
