Netherlands v Ireland: Leah Paul & Laura Delany hit centuries as Irish win ODI series

 Netherlands v Ireland: Leah Paul & Laura Delany hit centuries as Irish win ODI series

Netherlands v Ireland: Leah Paul & Laura Delany hit centuries as Irish win ODI series

Ireland have been dealt a major blow in the Women's World Cup qualifying Group 7, with the Netherlands taking victory in their first game of the campaign.

Leah Paul

Netherlands and Ireland will face each other in the Women's World Cup Qualifier on Tuesday night, with both teams looking to cement their place in the tournament.

Leah Paul will be key for Ireland if they are to come away with a win, as she is one of their most experienced players. The 26-year-old has over 50 caps for her country and has scored some important goals in her career.

She will need to be at her best against a Netherlands side that is full of attacking talent, but Paul is more than capable of rising to the challenge. If she can lead Ireland to victory, it will be a huge boost for their chances of qualifying for the World Cup.

A post match interview with WNL’s own Leah Paul

It’s been a rollercoaster of a season for the Ireland women’s national team. From the high of qualifying for their first ever World Cup to the low of an early exit in France, it’s been a emotional time for everyone involved with the squad. One person who has been there throughout it all is WNL’s own Leah Paul. We caught up with her after the game against the Netherlands to get her thoughts on the match and the season as a whole.

'It was a really tough game today, the Netherlands are a great team and we knew that it was going to be a difficult one. I think we gave it our all but unfortunately it wasn’t enough in the end. It’s been an incredible journey though, qualifying for our first World Cup and then getting to experience it firsthand in France. It was an amazing feeling and something that I’ll never forget.'

'We had such high hopes coming into the tournament but unfortunately we didn’t achieve what we wanted to. It was disappointing to go out so early but I think we can hold our heads up high knowing that we gave it everything we had. We’ll

Playing as captain of the Dutch ladies team, Leah Paul talks about her experience leading up to this game preparing for Ireland, playing against Ireland

Leah Paul is the captain of the Dutch ladies team that is set to take on Ireland in an upcoming game. She has been playing soccer for many years and has represented her country at various levels. This will be her first time playing as captain against Ireland. In the lead up to the game, she has been focused on preparing her team as best as possible.

"It's a really big privilege to be named captain for this game," Leah said. "I've played against Ireland before and they are a really tough team. We'll have to be at our best if we want to get a result."

Leah and her team have been working hard in training and she is confident that they will put in a good performance on game day. "We're all looking forward to the challenge," she said. "It should be a great game."

The start of the Irish game plan was to play fast and hard, which is something that we knew we had to try and counter

. We wanted to keep the ball and make Ireland run, and that's something we managed to do. The second half was different, as we managed to get the ball down and play a bit more. I think the difference in the game was that we made more of our chances, and were more clinical in front of goal.

It was a great team performance, and I'm delighted to have got the win. Thanks for all your support!

What did you think the Irish were trying to do?

The Irish team's game plan was pretty simple: to keep the ball as much as possible and to try and score from a set piece. They did this by sitting deep in their own half and looking to hit the Netherlands on the counter attack. While it didn't always work, it did create some good chances for the Irish team. In the end, the Netherlands were just too strong and won the game 3-1.

There are some games which are more physical

There are some games which are more physical, and then there are others which are more technical. The game between Netherlands and Ireland was definitely the latter. From the very beginning, it was clear that both teams were evenly matched in terms of their skill and technique. The first half was scoreless, with both teams having good chances to score but being unable to take advantage of them. In the second half, Ireland took the lead through a well-taken goal by Leah Paul. However, Netherlands equalized soon afterwards through a penalty kick. The game ended in a 1-1 draw, which was a fair result given the balance of play.