Rangers Women pair Demi Vance and Megan Bell are on course to claim a place at the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 Championships in England.
The pair, currently on the comeback trail from serious injury, were interested onlookers as their Northern Ireland international team mates got the job done last night in Belfast with a stunning 2-0 win over Ukraine in the playoff second-leg, securing a 4-1 aggregate win to seal their hard earned spot.
đź‘Ź Congratulations to @demi_ni, @__meganbell__ and the Northern Ireland squad.
A fantastic achievement to qualify for next summer’s @UEFAWomensEURO 🙌 https://t.co/rDME6RsQ5B
— Rangers Women (@RangersWFC) April 13, 2021
Northern Ireland, led by former Kilmarnock boss Kenny Shiels, will join heavyweights such as hosts England, Netherlands, Germany and France, as well as the other 11 qualifying nations.
This landmark achievement should have a transformative effect for the girls and womens game in Northern Ireland – on the back of recent street violence and political gloom, this feel-good factor from sporting sucees is very welcome.
As for Vance and Bell at Rangers, they have time on their side to regain fitness and form with a full year and a bit to go before the action gets underway in England.
As a senior player, Demi Vance will likely come back into the line-up for Shiels side once she returns to full fitness.
Highly rated Megan Bell will be in strong contention for a place in the squad, but there is lots of hard work to come before the main event.
For now, both players will be focussed on their own battles to get back onto the pitch.
The remarkable NI success just adds further motivation for the job in hand.