Gillian Pinder has withdrawn from the Irish girls’s senior squad for 2021, opening up a emptiness in midfield for a possible bolter in Sean Dancer’s plans for the Olympics.
he coach named his lowered panel of 23 from which 16 gamers and two reserves might be chosen for Tokyo. Of that quantity, 16 gamers from the November 2019 qualifying sequence in opposition to Canada have been included with Serena Barr – presently out with an ACL harm – and Pinder the one two not included once more.
Pinder, one of many stars of the 2018 World Cup, would ordinarily be one of many major contenders for a task within the workforce’s engine room however has stepped again for private causes.
Among the many midfielders named, uncapped Michelle Carey and her UCD team-mate Ellen Curran are included.
Zara Malseed, in the meantime, is the opposite uncapped participant in Dancer’s 2021 plans. She was set to make her debut in March earlier than a tour to South Africa was cancelled; then 21, her call-up got here off the again of a sensational season with Ards, scoring at a price of over a purpose a recreation.
Focus
Grace O’Flanagan is again to contest for the goalkeeping spots following a break from the set-up to give attention to her full-time job on the frontline as a physician.
The No 2 for the World Cup, she’s going to vie with Liz Murphy for the reserve spot with Ayeisha McFerran the clear No 1 choice.
Eire’s Olympic marketing campaign begins on July 24 in opposition to South Africa, with world No 1 facet the Netherlands, Germany, India and Nice Britain ready within the wings of their group.
Katie Mullan will proceed to captain the workforce and he or she stated: “It has been a difficult 12 months for everybody, however over the previous couple of months we have skilled extremely exhausting.”
Previous to that, Dancer will hope potential warm-weather and humidity camps in January and March will get the go-ahead.
Irish girls’s panel – Beth Barr (Belfast Harlequins), Michelle Carey (UCD), Naomi Carroll (Catholic Institute), Lizzie Colvin (Belfast Harlequins), Nicci Daly (Loreto), Deirdre Duke (Outdated Alex), Nikki Evans (Outdated Alex), Megan Frazer (Belfast Harlequins), Sarah Hawkshaw (Railway Union), Zara Malseed (Ards), Hannah Matthews (Loreto), Shirley McCay (Pegasus), Ayeisha McFerran (SV Kampong), Hannah McLoughlin (UCD), Katie Mullan (Ballymoney, captain), Anna O’Flanagan (Muckross), Grace O’Flanagan (Railway Union), Lena Tice (Outdated Alex), Sarah Torrans (Loreto), Roisin Upton (Catholic Institute), Chloe Watkins (Monkstown), Zoe Wilson (Randalstown).
Irish Impartial