A wobble in Tallaght but no need for Irish panic

Eileen Gleeson and her players were honest enough to admit things went pear-shaped during the Republic of Ireland's 2-0 defeat to Wales on Tuesday night, but there's no need to press the panic button just yet.

It was a ragged showing for sure, one that few saw coming. The Girls in Green were on an eight-game unbeaten run (six wins, two draws), seven of those under their new manager. Then Wales came to town and buckled the wheels of their momentum.

The visitors had less possession (44%), but their 13 efforts on goal - seven on target - offered a fairer reflection of their greater fluency and threat throughout.

Ireland played like a team unsure of what they were supposed to be doing - and perhaps that was the crux of the problem. Having looked so assured in a 4-1-4-1 formation against Italy in Florence, a tweaked 4-2-3-1 approach for the visit of the world number 32-ranked Welsh just didn't work. Changes to the starting line-up, plus a touch of fatigue, also eroded cohesion.

The players struggled to build from the back and got killed in transition, as Wales emphatically won the midfield battle while exploiting gaps down both flanks. Ireland could have been 4-0 down after 20 minutes. A litany of individual errors compounded the team's wobbly shape, though Wales deserve plenty of credit for a display full of verve and quality.

The positives for Ireland were threefold: Jess Ziu (above) shone again; the half-time substitutions made the team better; and a return to the tried-and-trusted 3-5-2 led to an improvement.

There's also the fact that Gleeson was without Tyler Toland, Sinead Farrelly and - crucially - Denise O'Sullivan, with the likes of Louise Quinn and Kyra Carusa only used off the bench. The backroom team of Emma Byrne,