Girls in Green sweep past France to rock the Páirc

How oft do your thoughts in their fancy take flight? By the banks of the lovely Lee, the Republic of Ireland chiselled out a Euro 2025 qualifier victory they would have daydreamed about on their pre-match walk through Cork city this morning.

Second-half goals from Denise O'Sullivan, the remarkable Julie-Ann Russell and Anna Patten gave Eileen Gleeson's team their first win of a difficult campaign, and rubber-stamped their status as a seeded side for the autumn play-offs.

France had already qualified for next summer's Euros and made a grand total of 11 changes, but it would be churlish to begrudge the Girls in Green their moment after a performance full of positives.

It was a deserved win, and gave them a serious morale-boost as they look towards October, and the chance to seal a ticket to next year's finals in Switzerland.

We need your consent to load this comcast-player content We use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preferences

France, with automatic qualification for the tournament already assured, field a completely new starting XI for their trip to the home of Cork GAA. In the build-up Herve Renard suggested he'd go strong on Leeside but instead he dipped deep into his squad ahead of their involvement in the upcoming Olympic Games.

Renard has been all around the world in his esteemed managerial career, but it's unlikely the 55-year-old has ever come across a scoreboard formatted for a game of hurling. A well-positioned black sheet blotted out the unrequired digits here with the Páirc shrinking its pitch dimensions to accommodate a full women's international soccer game