With back-to-back titles already secured, Wexford Youths Women played out a 1-1 draw with UCD Waves at Jackman Park on the final weekend of the Continental Tyres Women's National League this afternoon.
Wexford made sure of their second successive title with a 3-0 win over Cork City Women at Ferrycarrig Park last weekend and have presumably since focused most of their attention on the upcoming WNL Cup final against Peamount United next Sunday.
Today's opponents UCD Waves, last year's Cup finalists, were already destined to finish in sixth place but achieved a heartening draw here thanks to Sinead Gaynor's late equaliser which cancelled out Ally O'Keeffe's 66th minute opener for the champions.
The Champions have arrived @FAI_WNL @ExtratimeNews @FAI_WNL @ucdsportsclubs @thewnlshow pic.twitter.com/0z604dDWio
— ucdwaves (@ucdwaves) October 28, 2018
Missing out on the points will hardly irk the Wexford women for too long as they seek a first league and cup double.
Their opponents next Sunday gave warning that they are in blistering form with an eye-watering 9-1 victory over Cork City Women FC in Bishopstown this afternoon.
Peamount United were already 4-0 up after just 12 minutes, settling the game as a contest in remarkably quick time.
By half-time, it was 6-0 and Irish international Amber Barrett had already plundered a hat-trick, with Megan Smyth-Lynch, Dearbhaile Beirne and Karen Duggan adding the rest.
Eleanor Ryan Doyle made it 7-0 immediately after the re-start whereupon the scoring rate began to drop off considerably.
Rachel O'Regan responded for Cork with a consolation goal on 54 minutes but international centurion Áine O'Gorman was determined to get in on the act, adding further goals for the victors on the 54th and 69th minutes. Peamount had 20 minutes or so to get into double figures but the score remained as it was.
Aoife Thomspon rattled home four goals as Galway WFC battered Limerick WFC 7-1 in Eamonn Deacy Park this afternoon.
Remarkably, in a game which contained eight goals, it took 40 minutes for the first to arrive with Thompson finishing after Tessa Mullins headed into her path.
Limerick levelled it shortly after the interval with Shannon Parbat completing a breakaway move. The visitors were on terms for all of 12 minutes until Thompson rounded the keeper to restore Galway's lead shortly after the hour.
It stayed that way until the 77th minute, whereupon the visitors disintegrated horribly, shipping five goals in a bewilderingly short space of time.
Lucia Lubato curled one into the net from distance to make it 3-1 before Thompson completed her hat-trick three minutes. Limerick then scored two own goals in a bizarre finish to the game, one nodded in from a corner and another slide tackled into the net as the defender attempted to prevent Thompson scoring her fourth.
Thompson would then get her fourth in injury-time.
FT GWFC 7 - 1 LFCW
— GalwayWFC (@GalwayWFC) October 28, 2018.
And that's all, folks! Great result for us this afternoon, very positive end to the season. Hard luck, @LimerickFCWomen. We've no doubt you'll be back for us next season 💪 pic.twitter.com/psoRPm0UcN
League runners-up Shelbourne Ladies ensured the gap at the top stands at two points by the end thanks to a 4-0 victory over last placed Kilkenny United WFC.
In the context of Kilkenny's trying season, 4-0 represents a rather laboured showing by Shels, who, with the league gone and second place already guaranteed, had little to play for.
The Kilkenny women mustered only two points all season - a 2-2 draw with Limerick in May and a 1-1 draw with Galway last month - and suffered a 9-0 reversal in their home game against Shels earlier in the year.
However, the score remained 0-0 at the break here until the goals started to flow. Isibeal Atkinson opened the hosts account on the 47th minute with Jamie Finn doubling their lead eight minutes later.
That was it until the game's closing minutes when Atkinson grabbed her second and Alannah McEvoy completed the scoring.
