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Carn woman on Republic’s under-17 team 11.03.08

Story: Inishowen Independent

Carn FC’s Zoe Doherty returns from warm weather training in Portugal’s Algarve later today ahead of next week’s UEFA Under 17, Elite Qualifying phase tournament in France.
The 17 year-old was a member of a large party of Republic of Ireland women footballers who are preparing for various European competitions. The under-17 competition kicks-off next Tuesday, 18 March, in the Stade Jean Laffon in Perpignan in the south of France with a game against Scotland.

Zoe Doherty The Republic will play hosts France on Thursday and conclude their campaign with a game against Norway. With only one place on offer for the UEFA Championships Finals to be held at the Colovray Stadium in Nyon in Switzerland in May, the Irish side will have to carry through their fine form that secured their passage from the first qualifying phase if they are to secure qualification.
Doherty, the Inishowen league’s top goalscorer last season, has established herself as first choice
centre forward and has a couple of international goals to her credit. She played a recent friendly international versus Poland in Dublin.
The squad travelled to the Algarve last Thursday and have played their under-19 counterparts in two training games. “We’ve been training twice a day since, which has been tough,” Zoe said. “We’re trying to replicate the conditions we’ll have at the tournament. After training, for example, we come back to do some work in the pool. It’s very professional and everything is organised down to a tee.”
With manager Noel King expected to deploy a 4-4-1-1 formation, Zoe will play as a lone striker, something she’s become accustomed to in her recent international outings.
“It’s a difficult position to play sometimes,” she admits, “but it’s the system we’re used to and the team will be going all out to win our three games and ensure qualification.”
Ireland lost to France late last year, but Doherty is not putting any store by that result. “Our manager took a head count at dinner on Sunday and we discovered that we had ten different players from that last France game,” she said. “It will be completely different in Perpignan next week.”
Zoe is one of two Donegal women in the 17 strong squad; Finn Valley’s Tanya Kennedy is the county’s other representative.
The Republic qualified from a group including Turkey, Moldova and Sweden last October. They will play Scotland on Tuesday next, France on Thursday and Norway on Sunday with the table topping team qualifying for the European under-17 finals in Switzerland in May.
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