Timing is everything for resurgent Wexford star Molloy

There's a flip side to life in full-time professional football that’s probably not spoken about enough.

Time. Too much of it.

Your day is often done by lunchtime; then it’s a case of putting the feet up, recovering, and waiting for the next session.

To many, that’s the dream, but there’s context to these things and Ellen Molloy is a good example of a fine young player who looked destined to kick on in England only to be scuppered by time. Or, rather, timing.

Molloy was linked with a move from Wexford to Sheffield United last September. Around that time, her grandmother Breda Roche was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. They were extremely close.

Then aged 21 (she turned 22 earlier this month), an emotionally torn Molloy took the plunge and went to England, travelling home as regularly as possible to see her gran. In October, Breda passed away.

In an interview with the Irish Times in May, Molloy opened about the grief that blanketed her in the weeks following her gran’s death. After just four months in Sheffield, she rejoined Wexford.

It was the right call at the right time, with the gifted playmaker subsequently rediscovering her form and love of the game.

Included in Carla Ward’s Republic of Ireland squad for this week’s friendly double-header against the USA, Molloy is now desperate to show she’s still got the potential to carve out a strong career in green.

"I suppose this is like a condensed version of professional football, these next two weeks."

"I don't regret going over and as I've said previously, I can't fault Sheffield at all," she reflected.

"It was a great club, the support they gave me was unbelievable. It was just more so the timing of everything, it just didn't feel right for me. It was probably a bold move to come home and maybe an unpopular move to some people, but looking back, I think it was the right move at the time.

"I suppose I kind of put the enjoyment side of football first the last few months and to be honest I wasn't expecting this call-up, I was just focusing on club. But I was absolutely delighted when I got the call from Carla. I'm really looking forward to the next two weeks. It’s a really good opportunity."

Molloy, born and raised in Kilkenny, is no stranger to adversity.

Three years ago, she was the brightest young talent in the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division and looked nailed on to force her way into Vera Pauw’s long-term plans. A nightmare ACL injury scuppered those dreams, sidelining Molloy for a year.

She missed the World Cup, rehabbing at Roche Injury Clinic around the same time as fellow Thomastown native Colm Whelan, now at Bohs, then at UCD where he sustained an ACL injury just before he looked set to move to Lincoln City.

She’s had to bide her time to try and rebuild momentum on the international front. The games in Denver (Friday, 2am) and Cincinnati (Sunday, 8pm) are an opportunity for this creative force to remind people just how good she is.

Ellen Molloy has been in excellent form for Wexford

"I got a taster of what professional football is like and there's a lot more to it than just playing football every day," Molloy added.

"Like, it's the time that you're not playing football that you have to fill. And I kind of got a taste of that and have a better idea I suppose.

"But that wasn't the sole reason for me coming home. I had a fair idea about how to fill my time and stuff, but I had family reasons as well for coming home.

"I’d be educated and would know what to expect if an opportunity (to move abroad) did come up again. I'm just looking forward to this camp and getting to work under Carla.

"I suppose this is like a condensed version of professional football, these next two weeks, so I'm just looking forward to getting back into that and seeing how I feel in that environment again."

Molloy is one year into a four-year teaching degree at UL, specialising in PE and geography.

She likes to be busy, managing her time rather than trying to fill it.

Time. It’s something Molloy references frequently, but she also speaks about the joy and freedom of playing in the here and now. There’s no point in looking too far ahead when things are going so smoothly.

"I need to be playing at a higher standard," she admits, "but right now I’m not really focusing on that too much. I do think the league is a bit away and there is quite a huge step up from the League of Ireland to international football.

"I’m just focusing on the next few weeks and see how it goes."

Watch USA v Republic of Ireland on Friday from 2am on RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.

Watch USA v Republic of Ireland on Sunday from 7.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.

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