Katie McCabe eyes 'bigger stages' after Belfast rout

Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe says that the aim is to build on a "fantastic" UEFA Women's Nations League campaign when they face stronger opposition in the future.

The Girls in Green had already secured promotion to League A before the visit to Windsor Park, but rounded off a historic year with a thumping 6-1 result to make it six wins from six in the competition.

First-half goals from Lucy Quinn and Heather Payne, paved the way for the visitors, before Kyra Carusa, Katie McCabe, Louise Quinn, and Caitlin Hayes found the target after the break.

McCabe scooped the player of the match award with a stunning effort to go along with two assists.

On her terrific effort with her weaker right foot, she told RTÉ Sport: It was good play from us initially down the right-hand side and we switched the ball well. I think it was Ruesha (Littlejohn) or Jamie (Finn) that was shouting 'shoot’ behind me.

"I took a swing at it and luckily it went in."

The Arsenal star said her team coped well with a fast start from the hosts, but under the stewardship of Eileen Gleeson as interim manager, they were never going to deviate from their frontfoot gameplan.

"We had to endure that pressure, we coped really well with it at times, but we are a team that are trying to play and build off each game. We are going to make mistakes, but it is how we react to them.

"Eileen has been fantastic since she came in. You can really see how we want to develop how we play. This campaign has been fantastic, we're six from six. We couldn’t ask for any better."

Ireland will now mix it with the elite European sides in League A of the Nations League, and McCabe says that the loyal supporters, who made their presence felt at Windsor Park, will be treated to high