Match report
Enter the Dragons
She Kicks, issue 88, February 2025 pp.14–15
Wales secured qualification for a first-ever major tournament with a nerve-shredding play-off victory over the Republic of Ireland in Dublin. Having drawn the first leg 1-1 in Cardiff, Rhian Wilkinson’s side led 2-0 through Hannah Cain’s penalty and a breakaway finish from Carrie Jones, before Anna Patten’s 86th-minute header set up a stomach-churning finale settled only after eight minutes of stoppage time. Talismanic midfielder Jess Fishlock, winning her latest cap in a career defined by the long wait for this moment, described the achievement as the culmination of ‘over 20 years’ of work by generations of Welsh players. The result books Cymru’s place at UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 in Switzerland, a landmark long chased by a golden generation including Fishlock, Gemma Evans and Hayley Ladd, and one that promises a surge of fresh domestic interest in the women’s game back home.