Erin McLaughlin helps Ireland to qualifier victory

Republic of Ireland players, from left, Ellen Molloy, Eva Mangan and Erin Mc Laughlin during the UEFA Women's U19 Championship Qualifier. Photo: Eoin Noonan/Sportsfile

placeholder image — Republic of Ireland players, from left, Ellen Molloy, Eva Mangan and Erin Mc Laughlin during the UEFA Women's U19 Championship Qualifier. Photo: Eoin Noonan/Sportsfile

Erin McLaughlin was a second half substitute as the Republic of Ireland won their first UEFA Women's Under-19 European Championship qualifier on Tuesday afternoon.

The Girls in Green were 2-0 winners against Northern Ireland at the Markets Field in Limerick, with Ellen Molloy and Jessica Stapleton scoring a goal in each half.

Sion Swifts duo Kerry Brown and McLaughlin are natives of Greencastle and Culdaff respectively and were part of the squad, with McLaughlin coming off the bench on 65 minutes against Northern Ireland.

On Saturday, McLaughlin started and Brown came on as a sub as Ireland lost 3-2 against top seeds Switzerland.

Auréile Csillag and Alayah Pilgim added goals after an unfortunate own goal by Emma Bucci. Ireland fought back with Bucci and Molloy scoring, but it wasn’t enough to reel in the Swiss.

In the opening game on Thursday, Ireland went down 1-0 against England. Brown played the full game with McLaughlin coming on for the last 14 minutes.