Aoibheann Clancy of Shelbourne. Photo by Paul Phelan/Sportsfile
Shamrock Rovers’ Maria Reynolds has been called up by Carla Ward to the Ireland women’s squad as a replacement for the injured Jessie Stapleton ahead of the World Cup qualification double-header with Poland.
And the domestic representation has been doubled after Shelbourne’s Aoibheann Clancy, once capped against Morocco in 2022, also drafted in, though Bohs’ Aoibhe Brennan has been forced to miss out due to an ankle injury sustained last week.
Reynolds has been with the Tallaght side since their ascension to the league and has played extensively for Ireland underage sides in a career once interrupted by serious injury.
Stapleton limped out of Nottingham Forest’s game against Durham last month, a fixture that also prompted a catastrophic setback for experienced midfielder Lily Agg, who had been slowly recuperating from an ACL.
She ruptured her Achilles tendon in that game and will face another testing time on the sidelines. Ahead of her ACL surgery, she also received a diagnosis of melanoma.
“People close to me keep saying I’ll come back stronger again,” she said in a social media post. “If I’m being honest, right now I genuinely don’t know if I will come back at all.
“I’ll be another year older, out of contract in June, with an ACL and Achilles rupture behind me in the last two years. I’m not naive. The game is changing, and I know I’ll be a risk many won’t want to take a chance on.
“My heart is broken and my head hurts.
“To everyone who has believed in me, supported me and valued me as a player and person – thank you, it has meant more than you will ever know.”
Sunderland’s Jamie Finn, who had been originally omitted after struggling for game-time, started last week’s defeat to Birmingham in WSL 2 and will replace Agg.
Ireland travel to Gdansk for the first game next Tuesday before the return on Saturday week in the Aviva.
Ward’s side will seek to overcome a current one-point deficit in qualifying as they seek a favourable 2027 World Cup play-off route later this year.