BY RICHARD BULLICK
A comprehensive 62-35 victory over their Republic counterparts rounded off a fantastic first day at the Europe Netball Open for Northern Ireland which brought two wins and saw five players win their first senior caps including sisters Rosa and Olivia McCloskey.
Coming hard on the heels of an historic success for their club Kingsway, it was a memorable day for the McCloskey siblings, with Rosa scoring a total of 51 goals, some of them set up by feeds from big sister Olivia in the Irish derby battle.
The Warriors were expected to get underway with a routine win against Isle of Man and duly defeated the tournament hosts 70-29 in their early morning match but few would have anticipated such an emphatic margin against the Republic of Ireland in the evening.
With a squad bolstered by an influx of English-born players, the Republic proved very competitive in last December’s two-Test series against Northern Ireland in Newtownards albeit losing 55-37 and 53-36 on consecutive days.
But this time they were facing a Warriors side shorn of all four current British SuperLeague stars – Northern Ireland captain Caroline O’Hanlon, her Leeds Rhinos team-mates Michelle Magee and Emma Magee, and Severn Stars vice-captain Niamh Cooper.
So Northern Ireland appeared vulnerable to an ambush by their noisy neighbours but, after falling behind briefly early on, they quickly got into their stride and raced into a 13-4 lead before finishing the opening period 15-7 ahead.
The Republic reduced the arrears to five goals twice in the second quarter but Northern Ireland edged it 12-10 to lead by double digits at half-time and really asserted their authority in the penultimate period when outscoring their opponents 18-9.
Despite gaffer Forbes emptying her bench, the scoreboard gap increased by another nine in the final quarter as the Warriors romped to an impressive win which will cement their status as favourites to lift the trophy on Sunday.
The Warriors now appear odds on to top the table even if they were to be beaten by the United Arab Emirates in their last round robin game at lunchtime on Friday, but Forbes will want her team to push on by completing a clean sweep in this first phase of the tournament.
That would set up a potentially one-sided semi-final against Isle of Man on Saturday but the Republic of Ireland’s narrow 48-44 win over UAE on the opening day suggests that the other tie should be a much closer contest.
Although UAE are four places above the ROI in the current world rankings, at 21st, the latter will be desperate to set up another crack at Northern Ireland in Sunday’s decider, when the Warriors should be boosted by the return of Michelle Magee.
The younger Magee sister was the only one of NI’s SuperLeague quartet named in the Warriors squad of 15 for this tournament but won’t feature until after lining out for Rhinos against Team Bath in Friday night’s SuperLeague game in Sheffield.
Even though the opening game was against well-supported but unfancied Isle of Man, Forbes put her best foot forward by starting what was seen as her strongest seven on Thursday morning, with long-serving vice-captain Fionnuala Toner as skipper.
In Magee’s absence, Miss NI finalist Lauren Walshe was partnered in the back circle by Maria McCann, a member of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games squad, with their Belfast Ladies captain Toner deployed at wing defence.
Fresh from skippering Kingsway to their first NI Senior Cup success at the end of last month, Georgie McGrath and newly-elevated vice-captain Orlaith Rogers got the nod up front in preference to experienced campaigner Ciara Crosbie.
The diminutive Evelyn McCagherty got her chance in the absence of world-class centre O’Hanlon as the pivot in a mid-court trio also featuring Toner and regular wing attack Frances Keenan, the second oldest player in the starting seven aged just 24.
The scoreline was quite even for most of a scrappy opening period as Northern Ireland took time to settle but, with elegant playmaker Keenan becoming more dominant, the Warriors eased into a 16-10 lead by the first break.
Forbes made her first substitution ahead of the second quarter with the highly-rated Orla McGeough coming on at wing defence for her first cap with the hugely influential Toner dropping into the back circle in place of McCann.
The next change came in the 10th minute of that second period, with Rosa McCloskey replacing her club captain McGrath at goal attack and she had scored her first senior international goal by half-time at which juncture the scoreboard read 30-14.
When the teams returned to the court for the third quarter, another debutant Ana Mulholland was on at wing defence with McGeough going to centre in place of McCagherty and Crosbie coming on at goal attack with Rogers going off and McCloskey switching to lead shooter.
McCloskey dominated the scoring for the Warriors as they won the third quarter 21-7, scoring 18 goals to three for Crosbie, who took over as on-court captain when Toner was replaced by McCann shortly before the final interval.
Towering Crumlin goalkeeper Tillie Irvine became Northern Ireland’s first new cap of the morning at the start of the third quarter when she replaced Walshe as goalkeeper, McCagherty coming back on for McGeough at centre.
Keenan got a rest ahead of the Republic clash later, relieved by McGrath at wing attack, and with just under six minutes remaining, McGeough replaced McCagherty with the two shooters swapping bibs at the same time.
Captain Toner was named Player of the Match while debutant Rosa McCloskey topped the scoring chart with 33 goals supplemented by 21 from Rogers and eight apiece by McGrath and Crosbie.
After a recovery session in the sea and refuelling, the Warriors had a bit more rest time ahead of the eagerly-awaited clash with the Emeralds than their opponents, who were on court against UAE straight after them.
Forbes stuck with the same starting seven – the uncapped Olivia McCloskey took over from Mulholland in the only bench change – and, although the Republic posted the first two goals of the match, it wasn’t long until Northern Ireland edged into a lead which they never lost.
This time it was Rogers – who picked up Player of the Match – leading the way with 30 goals while Rosa McCloskey weighed in with 18, there were eight from fellow sub Crosbie and McGrath scored six.
Republic head coach Teresa Gillespie made her first substitution less than 10 minutes into the game and another before half-time in a desperate attempt to stem the tide against a Warriors side they had hoped to turn over.
“We thought this was our day, but we didn’t have a great start. There seems to be a psychological thing when we play Northern Ireland and mental strength is something we’ll need to work on before facing them again in the final,” reflected the Derry woman.
Victorious counterpart Forbes declared herself ‘really proud’ of the performance from the Warriors and how her players had implemented the gameplan on an afternoon when Rogers admitted there had been plenty of apprehension pre-match.
“This was a big game for us and my nerves were getting the better of me a bit beforehand but you just try to be calm, composed, cool and collected when you hit the court. You grow with each experience at international level and it was pleasing how our connections clicked.”
McGeough came on for McCann midway through the second quarter with Toner dropping back to partner Walshe in the circle and, having been introduced at half-time in place of McGrath, goal attack Rosa McCloskey got seven of Northern Ireland’s next eight scores.
With Northern Ireland leading 45-26, Forbes rung the changes ahead of the final quarter, with Irvine and McCann replacing Walshe and Toner respectively, with McCagherty going off and Keenan switching to centre to accommodate Olivia McCloskey’s debut at wing attack.
The experienced Crosbie came on up front for Rogers and took over the on-court captaincy, while McGrath was brought on in the unfamiliar role of wing defence to facilitate McGeough going to centre in place of Keenan.
Along with the impressive results, this was a good day for squad development with five new caps awarded and other relative rookies having to step up and take extra responsibility in the absence of formidable frontliners.
Six of these players plus Michelle Magee were part of the NI Under 21 squad which won European Championship silver medals here in November 2021 at a time when five others would have been eligible for that tournament and Keenan was just a few weeks too old.
Three of the debutants against Isle of Man – Rosa McCloskey, Mulholland and Irvine – had been in Glasgow with the current Under 21s last weekend playing against Scotland as they build towards September’s qualifiers for next year’s Netball World Youth Cup.
Forbes explained how she had tried to keep experienced players alongside the fresh faces, so Keenan and captain Toner racked up plenty of minutes, but the evergreen 34-year-old was happy to be out there helping to bring through the emerging generation of Warriors.
She spoke after the opening game about the strong physical challenge that the Republic would present later and Forbes also acknowledged the calibre of opposition but the confidence she readily expressed in her own group proved well-placed.
Olivia McCloskey
