Just 41 seconds into the match, chants rang out from the stands: “Football is back.” In the eyes of women’s football fans, it didn’t matter what happened on Sunday, it had “come back” two years ago, as England overcame the Republic of Ireland to take a major step towards defending their title in Switzerland next summer.
It was Manchester City’s Lauren Hemp who truly returned home on Friday. The North Walsham-born winger returned to Norwich, where she began her career in the club’s centre of excellence. It was a great night for the Lionesses, and the only disappointment for fans was that their local heroine didn’t score. That said, Hemp, like the rest of her team-mates, was in good form as the World Cup finalists dominated their opponents.
Buoyed by their vital win in France last time out and a huge improvement in their performance that followed, Sarina Wiegmann’s team arrived in high spirits and greeted by enthusiastic fans who were unfazed by the poor weather. The sound of air horns ringing out at a packed Carrow Road stadium at times created the atmosphere of a friendly before a major tournament, but the reality was that this was a crucial penultimate qualifier for the defending European champions. They had no choice but to win.
Within the first five minutes, they were already in control and had a say in the team’s goal. After a throw-in by Jess Carter in the England half, 29 passes were exchanged on the way to the goal, with every Lion touching the ball. Finally, Beth Mead made a deft touch inside the penalty area to lay it on to Arsenal teammate Alessia Russo, who calmly slotted past Courtney Brosnan to score the opener. Wigman’s smile showed how pleased she was that all the passing drills at St George’s Park had paid off.
The manager chose four particularly intriguing names for her starting XI. On Thursday, she admitted that the “toughest” decision was the goals. Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton, whose world-class saves helped win the game against France in June, was picked over Mary Earps, suggesting that the No. 1 spot is no longer secure in the hands of the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year. Maya Le Tissier was given a chance at right-back, Alex Greenwood started at centre-back over Millie Bright, and Jess Park was preferred in midfield over Ella Toone. Le Tissier was sharp and focused. Greenwood was always stylish when in possession. Park was adventurous. But it was the movement of the front three – Mead, Russo and Hemp – that caused endless problems for Ireland’s back three.
Eileen Gleeson’s England travelled to East Anglia with zero points from their previous four matches in this qualifying group and a guaranteed play-off spot later in the year, so they could be forgiven for fearing the worst. But on a night when world champions Spain suffered a surprising 2-1 defeat to the Czech Republic and eight-time European champions Germany were beaten 3-0 by Iceland, England were taking nothing for granted and Ireland weathered the early storm to emerge calm and composed.
The visiting team’s work rate was commendable but their hopes of producing a shock result were seriously damaged early in the second half when Liverpool centre-back Niamh Fahey cynically flipped up her Hemp shirt to give away an apparent penalty which Georgia Stanway converted powerfully to double England’s lead. Greenwood had scored one penalty and missed the other in April’s game in Dublin, but the match ended in a 2–0 victory for the Lionesses. However, Stanway deceived Brosnan to score for the second consecutive game.
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England could have scored more, and probably should have – substitute Julie Russell volleyed in the winner after a long throw-in in the dying seconds of the game to show their frustration – but they still kept their qualification in their own hands.
