Eur-eka moments

History was made last week when Cliftonville Ladies stepped on to the European stage for the very first time.

Though beaten in both of their Group 6 encounters in the Women’s Champions League, the Reds’ exerts in Portugal were about more than mere results – the very experience of rubbing shoulders with some of the top players on the continent providing tangible representation of precisely how far the team has come in such a short space of time.

After clinching the Club’s first ever Women’s Premiership title last term, John McGrady’s side headed into the unknown as they counted down the months, weeks and days until their inaugural involvement in the Champions League draw – and they could barely have wished for a more magical pairing when their name came out alongside that of Benfica; true European football royalty.

While there’s no question that winnable ties against relative minnows are everyone’s preference when it comes to Cup draws, it was felt that locking horns with such a formidable opponent in the august surroundings of the Benfica Campus was more than adequate personal reward for the players’ endeavours in recent times.

Having jetted out to Faro last Tuesday morning, the travelling party had little time to familiarise themselves with the Crowne Plaza Caparica in Lisbon, with an early evening training session providing their first glimpse at the venue that would stage their European bow the following night.

The opening match was, as expected, a strenuously testing affair as Benfica – blessed with players who had turned out at this summer’s Women’s World Cup for both Portugal and Brazil – turned on the style to rack up an emphatic success, however it’s arguable that the most famous goal of the night belonged to Caitlin McGuinness, whose 60th minute header secured her place in folklore as Cliftonville Ladies’ first ever Euro goalscorer. Indeed, it took the Reds’ Men’s team four matches (spanning some 26 years) before they found the net on the UEFA stage.

The day after the game was spent enjoying a tour of Benfica’s famous Estadio da Luz and accompanying museum, where the Portuguese giants’ illustrious history was reflected along long-winding corridors and trophy rooms glittering with famous accolades and prizes amassed over the last 119 years.

Friday may, meanwhile, have seen the squad return to training amid the countdown to their final clash with BIIK Kazygurt of Kazakhstan, but there was still time to celebrate Hannah Doherty’s birthday as the full-back celebrated turning 26 in the company of her team-mates.

Prior to Saturday’s return to the Futebol Campus, captain Marissa Callaghan had spoken about how playing for Cliftonville in the Champions League had ticked the final box on the to-do list of her career. She had not, however, reckoned on going one better and finding the net.

Things looked ominous when BIIK scored two quickfire goals to take a firm grip on proceedings, but Danielle Maxwell’s strike in first-half injury-time offered the Reds hope of a comeback and, when Callaghan stepped up to convert a 68th minute penalty kick, the joy on her face said everything about what it meant.

Unfortunately, however, the Kazakhs restored their advantage six minutes later and added a fourth five minutes from time to guarantee themselves third place in Group 6, having kicked off with a narrow defeat to SFK Riga of Latvia in midweek.

Though the game marked the end of Cliftonville’s participation in this season’s tournament, there is a steely belief that our Ladies team (who now have their own dedicated European History page to accompany the Men’s version here on cliftonvillefc.net) can be regular participants on the UEFA stage and, in acknowledging their considerable efforts in Portugal last week, we extend our very best wishes as they prepare for the closing stages of another intriguing Women’s Premiership title run-in.