AMBER BARRETT stamped her passport to Australia last night with her first goals for club or country since her famous play-off winner last October.
Barrett scored from the spot just four minutes after her half-time introduction and then added Ireland’s third with a clever finish on 72 minutes.
Those strikes bookended Claire O’Riordan’s first international goal, as an experimental Girls in Green side held on for a morale-boosting win.
READ MORE: Ireland 3-2 Zambia score recap and result as Amber Barrett's double completes the turnaround
Few doubted that Barrett would make the cut.
But her woes at club level, which included a spell on the sidelines with a shoulder injury, had the Hampden Park hero refusing to take her spot for granted.
She can sleep easy over the next week now that she has brought her Ireland tally to seven goals.
Less than half of those who started last night could say with certainty that they are Australia-bound.
Pauw started with five players who would be expected to feature in her 11 for Ireland’s opener against Australia in Sydney.
Courtney Brosnan, Louise Quinn, Niamh Fahey, Megan Connolly and Heather Payne aside, the team was made up of those nervously counting down the days until next Thursday’s squad announcement.
As expected, there was no Katie McCabe in last night’s squad. Denise O’Sullivan doesn’t arrive in Ireland until next Wednesday.
Leanne Kiernan had played just 32 minutes of football for Liverpool since the opening day of last season, nine months ago.
In her first start since that fateful game against Chelsea, the rust was evident, although to her credit she chased everything and even had the ball in the net on 32 minutes.
Unfortunately for the Cavan-born striker, it was one of a handful of occasions when she was flagged for offside.
Kiernan had a few more sights at goal as her link-up play with left-wing-back Izzy Atkinson showed some early promise.
Less than two minutes were on the clock when an Atkinson centre caught the Liverpool star at an awkward height. She connected with her knee but sent the ball wide of the near post.
A heavy touch on seven minutes meant she couldn’t capitalise on an Abbie Larkin pass, as the ball ran through to goalkeeper Hazel Nali.
She was denied by the pace of Margaret Belemu in the 21st minute and by goalkeeper Nali, who raced off her line to save the 24-year-old’s angled effort six minutes before half-time.
Kiernan was never going to be at her sharpest last night, given her long recovery from an ankle injury.
But in an industrious 45-minute spell she showed that her instinct for sniffing out an opportunity hadn’t been diminished by her time on the sidelines.
Kiernan’s natural goalscoring ability will no doubt give Pauw plenty to think about as she whittles her squad down to 23.
As for the rest of last night’s starters, it was a stuttering first-half display, with O’Riordan, Payne and Quinn all off-target.
O’Riordan, very much a maybe for World Cup selection in a very competitive defensive department, did her chances a world of good with an excellent display.
But there was nothing she could do to stop Zambia’s opener on 17 minutes.
The visitors started in a chaotic manner, but showed far more composure in their attacking third than in defence, with Grace Chanda, Racheal Kundananji and Barbra Banda in outstanding form.
Chanda linked up with Banda for the goal, turning brilliantly on half-time and sending a delightful pass forward.
Banda slipped past Quinn at the end-line, her cross deflected off Izzy Atkinson, hit the post, bounced off Brosnan’s shoulder and dropped over the line.
It may have been a lucky goal, but the lead was deserved.
Pauw made five changes at half-time and it was Barrett, after Larkin’s shot was handled by Evarine Katongo inside the area, who assumed penalty duties.
She calmly slotted the ball inside the left-hand corner, much to the delight of the vast majority of the 5,732 crowd.
O’Riordan made it 2-1 on 63 minutes when she was left completely unmarked inside the Zambian area to head home Connolly’s brilliant free-kick delivery.
Brosnan pulled off a fine full-stretch save to deny Kundananji moments before Barrett’s second on 72 minutes.
Connolly’s corner was punched clear by Nali, but only to substitute Ciara Grant, who headed it towards the new Standard Liege signing.
Barrett, spotted the keeper stranded on her six-yard line and lifted the ball over her head and under the crossbar.
Brosnan was excellent once again on 75 to stop Banda’s attempt to dribble the ball around her, while Barrett’s hat-trick bid was foiled by a fine Nali save.
Kundananji got the goal her performance deserved when she raced in from the left and drilled a low shot across the Irish keeper and inside the far corner.
Pauw’s side held on comfortably, however, for the win.
