The match in Minsk will be the latest stopping point in a football journey that, for each of them, began with with cutting their teeth as the only girl in the St Oliver Plunkett boys’ team.
“They were all boys I grew up with, we played football in the street together so they were very accepting,” Kirsty recalls of her age-group, who played many of their matches at Mallusk playing fields.
“As a girl, you always got a bit of stick from the teams we played against but you grew used to that – and it always made it even sweeter when we beat them.
“I used to play centre-back for the boys and I remember one match when I scored an own-goal in the first few minutes. You could see them thinking it was going to be easy because I was a girl, but we ended up winning 7-1. Things like that made me laugh.”
In 2013, and by then a goalscoring winger, Kirsty secured a move to Linfield Ladies. It was not long before she became an integral player and was a driving force in the team winning the league title for the last four seasons, the last of which she was captain for.
Caitlin had arrived to add extra firepower to the Blues’ attack for the two most recent title wins, and it is a time they both look back on fondly.
“When I first joined Linfield we didn’t win any trophies as it was Glentoran and Crusaders who were winning everything,” said Kirsty, who was named NI Football Awards Women’s Personality of the Year on Sunday.
“Gradually, we started getting better, were able to attract more good players and eventually started winning silverware. Winning the four titles in a row was a fantastic achievement and I loved my time at the club.”