There was more pain for a typically gritty Republic of Ireland on Saturday night as they fell to a 2-1 World Cup qualifier defeat in the Netherlands.

Katie McCabe’s penalty five minutes into the second period looked like it might nick the Girls in Green a precious point at Stadion Galgenwaard in Utrecht after Lineth Beerensteyn put the Dutch ahead in the first half.

But Beerensteyn forced home a winner eight minutes from time to inflict Ireland to a second loss in four days after the French prevailed in Tallaght on Tuesday.

It’s tough at the top. Two commendable performance, zero points, plenty of harsh lessons.

Dutch boss Arjan Veurink admitted his players had a clear-the-air meeting after their 2-2 draw in Poland. They wanted a fast start, but in the early exchanges Ireland actually exposed fragilities in the Oranje Leeuwinnen’s makeup.

Caitlin Hayes rose unmarked at a McCabe corner to nod goalwards, the well-placed Lynn Wilms kneeing it off the line. Then Kyra Carusa looped an inviting ball across goal towards Hayes, who couldn’t force it home under pressure from 19-year-old Chelsea defender Veerle Burmann.

The Dutch cob-webbed together intricate passages of play and begun to locate gaps. The jet-heeled Beerensteyn served notice of her threat when she scorched beyond Aoife Manion but took a touch too many, inviting Courtney Brosnan to make a vital smothering save.

Netherlands go in front

In the 20th minute, there’d be no such left-off.

Jill Rooord, who stitched together so many moves of promise for the hosts, picked out Wilms in a pocket of space. She fed in an excellent low cross that was begging to be knocked home; Beerensteyn duly obliged.

The scale of the Irish challenge had grown. It was imperative they didn’t ship another before half-time.

To complicate things further, McCabe was a booking away from being suspended for the trip to Poland in April, and she was blessed not to get it in the 26th minute after petulantly barging into Chelsea’s Wieke Kaptein. McCabe’s name had been booed when announced pre-match, and there’s no doubt opponents try to get under her skin.

Still, it was a reckless act at a time when the Girls in Green needed cool heads.

The Netherlands turned the screw.

Brosnan spilled a Roord free-kick that led to a panicked clearance; then Chloe Mustaki hacked away another dangerous delivery from the left.

The Dutch had the game by the scruff of the neck. Ireland wriggled themselves out of trouble once or twice to occasionally loosen the grip.

McCabe spot on

Beerensteyn should have killed this game off on the stroke of the half-time after Damaris Egurrola pinged an inch perfect diagonal over Mannion’s head to her teammate’s feet. Beerensteyn looked certain to drill home her second goal of the night; Brosnan had other ideas, brilliantly blocking the effort with her leg, then scooping up the afters.

One down at the break having being starved of the ball, Ireland re-emerged with more purpose.

In the 50th minute, they were thrown a lifeline.

McCabe’s deep cross arrowed towards Anna Patten, who was grazed by the flying fist of Lize Kop. Danish referee Frida Klarlund pointed to the spot. Kop was livid. It was soft, no question, but none of the 200-odd Ireland fans jammed into the left corner of the ground cared as McCabe stepped up to fire home the equaliser.

Vivianne Miedema, 104 international goals under her belt, lurked menacingly on the fringes of the contest, spurning a golden opening 57 minutes in after the Dutch had cut through Ireland down the right, blazing her effort into the stands from 15 yards out.

Things were getting tetchy. Murphy easily could have received a straight red for a knee-high challenge on Egurolla; a couple of minutes later, Sheva went in the book after catching Roord. With a half an hour to go, Ireland looked tired.

Ward summoned Amber Barrett to replace Quinn, while Veurink had the luxury of throwing on a trio of good operators to further sharpen his team’s attack: Esmee Brugts, Danielle van de Donk and Jackie Groenen.

Winning goal

Boos rang around the stadium when Brosnan went down in the 78th minute. She’d done similar on the half-hour mark, Ward using it as a chance to get the players in a huddle for a pep talk.

Bolstered by Barrett’s physicality, Ireland looked reasonably comfortable as the game ticked into the 82nd minute. But a whipped corner wasn’t dealt with by Brosnan and Beerensteyn squeezed home a scrappy finish despite being wrapped up in defenders.

Ireland huffed and puffed in search of a leveller, but it would not arrive. The last meaningful attack came from the Netherlands when Jackie Groenen pounced on a loose ball in midfield with Brosnan stranded. Groenen’s goalbound shot cannoned into the back of Beerensteyn, a bizarre moment that drew gasps of incredulity from the crowd.

It didn’t matter in the end. The Dutch closed it out, while Ireland now move on to a double header against Poland in April.

Netherlands: Lize Kop; Lynn Wilms, Dominique Janssen (capt), Veerle Buurman, Marisa Olislagers; Damaris Egurrola, Vivianne Miedema, Wieke Kaptein (Jackie Groenen 66); Jill Roord (Esmee Brugts 66), Lineth Beerensteyn; Romee Leuchter (Danielle van de Donk 66)

Reublic of Ireland: Courtney Brosnan; Aoife Mannion, Anna Patten, Caitlin Hayes, Chloe Mustaki, Katie McCabe (capt); Megan Connolly, Lucy Quinn (Amber Barrett 66), Marissa Sheva (Saoirse Noonan 90); Emily Murphy; Kyra Carusa (Abbie Larkin 84)

Referee: Frida Klarlund (Denmark)