Irish Senior Women's Head Coach, Mark Scannall:

"The players are hurting because we were ahead for so long but losing Susan Moran to a fifth foul was a serious blow to us," said Scannall. "We lost Susan at an awful time and unfortunately the game swung in their favour.

"We cannot allow ourselves to be downbeat because we were more than a match for them and at times made them look ordinary," he added. "We are still in contention and we are more than capable of winning our remaining four games and getting one of those top two places."

Irish co-captain Lindsay Peat:

"It is far from over

"It's really difficult to take now but we have to take heart from what was an excellent display against a side that is rated so highly.

"We had our chances to win but unfortunately we didn't take it,

"We couldn't ask anymore from the players but on the evidence of this game we are far from out of it. "We have shown we can compete with the likes of Montenegro and the Netherlands and we really believe we can still win our remaining four games and earn a place in the play-off's."