{"id":406559,"date":"2026-04-19T11:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T11:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/406559\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T11:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T11:40:14","slug":"sensational-osulllivan-on-a-different-level-as-ireland-record-double-win-over-poland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/406559\/","title":{"rendered":"Sensational O’Sulllivan ‘on a different level’ as Ireland record double win over Poland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carla Ward has hailed Ireland\u2019s gritty 1-0 win over a stubborn Poland side as \u2018a proper Irish performance\u2019 in that they had to dig deep at times, but she also praised her players\u2019 ability to absorb information as key to how the team have grown in this campaign.<\/p>\n

\u2018That\u2019s what you\u2019d call a proper Irish performance; you have to dig deep, you have to defend in a slightly different way. We knew they\u2019d be slightly different and what was quite pleasing was that what we believed they would change, they did, so we prepared for that and adapted for that. That was important,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

\u2018How the girls executed the game plan in the last two games<\/a> has been nothing short of sensational. They take messages on and they deliver it in a way like no group I\u2019ve ever worked with.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"ireland\"Republic of Ireland head coach Carla Ward. Pic: Tyler Miller\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

Ward felt that Marissa Sheva\u2019s goal just before the interval eased tension and the edginess of the performance.<\/p>\n

\u2018I think at half-time we said, \u2018Breathe, be calmer on the ball\u2019. I think it was edgy, the first-half, but that goal before half-time really helped us settle. This group is just such a joy to work with, they really are, and again they deserve an awful lot of credit.\u2019<\/p>\n

Denise O\u2019Sullivan<\/a> gave another powerhouse performance in midfield, although the manager said that she is running out of superlatives for the Cork woman.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ireland\u2019s Denise O\u2019Sullivan has a shot at goal. Pic: Seb Daly\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

\u2018Sensational. She [O\u2019Sullivan] is on a different level. She has been sensational these last two games. I\u2019m glad you said that, because after the first game I thought it was the best performance I\u2019d ever seen her produce in an Ireland shirt, and she topped that tonight.\u2019<\/p>\n

The one blot on a fine afternoon was the first-half booking that O\u2019Sullivan picked up, which will rule her out of the match against the Netherlands in Pairc U\u00ed Chaoimh on Jun 5th.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s frustrating that I\u2019m missing the game, of course, given it\u2019s in Cork. It\u2019s a massive game for the team so of course I\u2019m really gutted,\u2019 said O\u2019Sullivan after picking up yet another player of the match award.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ireland celebrate after scoring their first goal. Pic: Stephen McCarthy\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

\u2018Look, it is what it is. It\u2019s part of football, it happens. Take the positives, and that\u2019s the three points tonight. I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll be there cheering the girls on in Cork. I trust them, I trust the staff that they\u2019re going to go out and do everything in their power to get something in those games. Keeping my head up, it is what it is. That\u2019s the mentality.\u2019<\/p>\n

On her 131st\u00a0game for her country, O\u2019Sullivan almost adorned it with a wonder goal, twice playing the ball over the head of the defender before her shot clattered the crossbar.<\/p>\n

\u2018Yeah, I\u2019m gutted. It is what it is. I wish it went in, but I\u2019m confident right now. You can see that in the box, I\u2019m really enjoying this team. It comes from the people around me giving me that confidence and that belief \u2013 Carla, the staff, the girls. I\u2019m really valued in here. I think when you\u2019re really valued and believed in as a player, I think it comes through in your performances.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"Republic of Ireland captain Katie McCabe. Pic: Seb Daly\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

O\u2019Sullivan felt the team were in control for the entire match and that comes from the belief that Ward has instilled in the team.<\/p>\n

\u2018Carla has instilled a lot of belief in us. We spoke the other night after the game when we gave up those two goals. She just said we need to really focus, we need to reset and not concede. So I think having that mentality going into the game tonight, to really not concede, and be really focused in the last 10, 15 minutes of the game. She has\u00a0instilled a lot of confidence in the team.<\/p>\n

\u2018Coming into this camp, the only goal was six points. We spoke about it the whole way through the camp. I think when you speak about it with each other and put that belief in each other and Carla put that belief in the team that we are going to get the six points from this team \u2026 we set out to do that and we succeeded.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carla Ward has hailed Ireland\u2019s gritty 1-0 win over a stubborn Poland side as \u2018a proper Irish performance\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-406559","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}