Chambers' Scoring Form Offers Hope for Northern Ireland
Chambers scored 20 goals in the Women's Premiership for Linfield last season.
Northern Ireland's women's team has endured a challenging period, going six games without a win or clean sheet and four consecutive matches without scoring. This difficult spell has affected both their defensive and offensive performances.
New manager Michael McArdle faces clear challenges but also apparent solutions to reverse the team's recent struggles and guide them back on track as they aim to secure a play-off spot for the 2027 World Cup.
Scoring goals remains a significant area requiring improvement.
Under interim coach Kris Lindsay, Northern Ireland showed defensive resilience despite losses to Switzerland and Turkey, with a costly individual error by goalkeeper Lauren Perry contributing to the defeat against Turkey.
While the defensive foundation appears solid, the offensive output has been limited. The team managed only one shot on target against Switzerland and two in their home match versus Turkey.
With captain and leading striker Simone Magill absent from the World Cup qualifiers due to expecting her first child, McArdle must identify new goal-scoring options.
In his initial squad selection, McArdle has included uncapped 22-year-old striker Cora Chambers alongside Glentoran teenager Kascie Weir.
Chambers, a forward for Linfield, formed a prolific partnership with Eve Reilly in the Women's Premiership last season, scoring 20 goals. Since joining Linfield in 2024, she has accumulated 39 goals in 47 appearances, reflecting consistent high-level performance.
"Excitement, I think that's the certainly in immediate observation [of Cora]," the new boss told NI.
"Looking ahead to Malta, there's a focus on the front end of the pitch. Cora is definitely a player that over the last two years in the league has shown real strength in her outcomes and consistent performances and it's one of those ones that it's easy to reward that.
"Really excited by Cora and I think that the energy that she can add is slightly different to what we already have and certainly it's a reward for her hard work over the last couple of seasons at club."
Uncapped Chambers has been named in McArdle's first Northern Ireland squad.
Additional include Northern Ireland's aspirations for the World Cup and the decision to host remaining home qualifiers at Mourneview.
It's About Regaining the Goalscoring Touch
McArdle takes charge of a Northern Ireland side whose last goal was scored against Bosnia-Herzegovina in June 2025.
However, McArdle emphasized that Chambers will not be the sole player responsible for ending the team's goal drought, which dates back to a 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina in June 2025. The upcoming April double-header against Malta offers an opportunity to break this streak.
Malta currently sits at the bottom of Group B2 and, like Northern Ireland, has yet to secure a win in their opening two matches.
This makes Malta a fitting opponent for Northern Ireland to aim for goals and valuable points in the race for second place and a play-off position. Nonetheless, Malta has previously posed challenges for Northern Ireland.
While Northern Ireland achieved a 2-0 victory away in Euro 2025 qualifying, they were held to a goalless draw at home by Malta in the Nations League.
McArdle is cautious, acknowledging that Malta will view these matches as their best chance to earn points.
"While Simone isn't available to us, it's really important that we look at the strength and depth in the frontlines and everyone contributing to goals, not just the frontline players," he added.
"Our last goal was last June so it's getting that goalscoring feeling again and getting the top end of the pitch flowing and hopefully Cora and the other players can all contribute to that.
"Malta will be very difficult to play against, they have a very strong structure. They may choose to sit in that structure and will also be targeting these two games as their opportunity to get results that will keep them in League B as well and we need to be very conscious of that."
McArdle has placed particular emphasis on the "final third aspect" of play during these next two games and throughout the remainder of the campaign, aiming to end Northern Ireland's status as a team with limited shots on goal.
"The main focus in these two games is a high-energy, brave style of play. We want to dominate the ball as much as possible against Malta and we need to be brave with good decision-making.
"We've got a real intelligence as a staff around that final third area and a lot of it comes from confidence. Not having won a game for over a year or scored a goal for over seven or eight months, sometimes it is self-esteem so we will look in training at building that."
