The Republic of Ireland women's team have finished in eighth place at the Cyprus Cup after losing this afternoon’s play-off with Finland in Paralimni.
The Finns, who are ranked 19th in the world and are currently preparing for their third successive appearance at the European Championship Finals, scored the only goal of the game through Sanna Talonen after 20 minutes.
Today’s defeat was Ireland’s first in the tournament after they won Group C with wins over Northern Ireland (5-1) and South Africa (2-0) and a draw with world no. 16 South Korea (0-0).
Sue Ronan’s team had come into the tournament ranked 10th of the 12 participating countries so an eighth-place finish represents an excellent performance from an inexperienced squad that included 16 home-based players, six of whom were uncapped prior to the commencement of the tournament.
The team’s next game will be on Tuesday, 18 June, against Austria at Tallaght Stadium.