You only had to look at Everton Women’s official Twitter account to know who had been the hero in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur.
Minutes after the final whistle, a photo was shared of goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan - her fists clenched in celebration - alongside the caption: ‘Ireland's number one for a reason.’ The post was reflective of Brosnan’s immense display between the sticks, with the shot-stopper having made a string of impressive saves to ensure Everton travelled back to Merseyside with an important point in tow.
American-born Brosnan, who is eligible to represent the Republic of Ireland through her paternal grandparents, made 10 stops against Spurs. It takes her tally up to 19 saves for the season, with only Brighton & Hove Albion’s Sophie Baggaley and Leicester City’s Janina Leitzig having made more. That Baggaley and Leitzig have both played more games than Brosnan so far this term makes the Everton ‘keeper’s statistics all the more impressive, while of course hinting at the frailties of the Blues’ injury-ravaged defence.
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Such glittering form would surely see the 27-year-old take the mantle of undisputed no.1 for a host of other top flight teams. But it’s a slightly different set-up at Walton Hall Park, with manager Brian Sorensen often rotating his goalkeeper on a week-by-week basis.
Last term, Manchester United loanee Emily Ramsey was brought in to join Everton’s goalkeepers’ union. She featured nine times for the Blues in all competitions, while Brosnan made 18 appearances across the campaign.
That disparity, though, would perhaps not have been so great had Ramsey not been sidelined with injury for part of the season. Indeed, the young shot-stopper impressed so much during her outings for Everton that she even earned a first senior England call up before making a permanent switch to Merseyside over the summer.
Ramsey has so far made two WSL appearances for Sorensen’s side this term compared to Brosnan’s three. And the topic of goalkeeper rotation is something the Everton boss spoke about at length ahead of last weekend’s trip to Spurs.
“We did it last year. We rotated every game basically,” Sorensen said. “When they were both available, Courtney played then Emily played. This year we decided because Emily had done really well in pre-season, she got the first two games.
“Courtney’s still an excellent keeper so she got the next two. It’s not like there’s a pattern to it. We see how they look in the week and how they fit in in terms of the opponent we play against - they have different skillsets - but they’re both excellent keepers so we’ll keep rotating and there’s no certain number one.”
It is an interesting approach and one that has been brought into sharp focus recently in the Premier League, as Mikel Arteta veers between Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya as Arsenal’s principal shot-stopper. It’s an experiment that thus far hasn’t really bore fruit for the Gunners but one that has served Sorensen’s side well during his Everton tenure.
With a challenging game against Chelsea to come at Walton Hall Park this weekend, it will be interesting to see whether Brosnan retains her starting spot between the sticks. But, at a time when the Blues’ squad looks light in certain areas of the pitch, Everton fans can at least rest assured they are well-stocked in the goalkeeping department.
