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FAI Women's Cup preview: Athlone Town v Wexford Youths

Updated / Friday, 23 Sep 2022 15:20
Niamh Coombes of Athlone Town (L) with Wexford Youths' Ciara Rossiter
Niamh Coombes of Athlone Town (L) with Wexford Youths' Ciara Rossiter

It's been quite a campaign for Athlone Town.

Tommy Hewitt's youthful outfit are fourth in the SSE Airtricity Women's National League, just six points off leaders Wexford Youths, who they face in the Evoke.ie FAI Cup semi-final on Saturday evening.

Not bad for a team that was only formed two years ago - and they'll tell you this is only the start.

Hewitt has harnessed a production line of exciting young talent mixed with a few seasoned footballers to close the gap on the traditional big three of Wexford, Peamount United and Shelbourne.

They blew the title race wide open by beating Shels 2-0 last weekend. Tomorrow, they will look to shatter Wexford Youths' double dreams and reach a first ever FAI Cup final.

"At the start of the season, we would have been delighted with the position we're in now," said goalkeeper Niamh Coombes, formerly of Kilkenny United, Bohemians and Icelandic side Volsungur.

"I don't think we could even believe it ourselves. The confidence has grown throughout the season, getting wins and putting more points on the board each game. I think the girls have been putting in the work since pre-season. We're not in this position for no reason, it's fully deserved."

Athlone have played Wexford twice in the league this campaign and twice lost 2-1. The margins are fine, adds Coombes.

"We ran them close in both games. It was 2-1 down in Athlone. I think we went 1-0 up as well. It's just small little mistakes like that which let us down last season. We've cut out a lot of that this season so far. We're looking to start off on a high on Saturday and hopefully we do get to the final.

"We'll take anyone in the final. The four teams in the semis are all quality. Anything can happen in the cup. We'll just focus on ourselves and want to get the win on Saturday and look to see who we get if we do get there."

Standing in their way is a formidable Wexford Youths team laced with big-game experience.

Ciara Rossiter was superb in the FAI Cup final last year, shining in defence as Youths got past Shelbourne 3-1 at Tallaght Stadium.

A garda by profession, she'll be back on the beat come Sunday. It's a tough grind and Rossiter admits as much.

"I have to use my annual leave a lot of the time for matches, so it's a bit annoying because I don’t really have much leave left for holidays," she said.

"It’s tough with night shifts and all. Sometimes if I’m working the night before a match I wouldn’t get it off, so I’d be in and then sleep for three hours and then go to a match. It’s not great."

Youths -currently top of the league table - are serial winners. Every season they're in the mix to win the league, the cup or both and this year is no different. They put themselves under pressure to succeed; standards are sky high.

"I suppose every team is the same, you always want to come into the league and the cup and you want to win," added Rossiter.

"I don't really think there has been anything different this year.

"The U-19s and the senior team train together and I really think that has not only brought us on but it has brought the U-19s on as well. The competition between us in camp is really good to get positions on the field. There are so many people biting at people’s ankles and it’s driving us more.

"Athlone are unbelievable. I think the improvement they have made since last season is unreal. It is so good to see and it is just so good having another team in there competing, and a different team too, because it's always been the top-three for years. It’s good to have another team come in.

"Athlone have been playing unbelievably well so we do feel a bit of pressure. They are on fire at the moment and it's not going to be an easy game. No game is going to be easy. We’ll have to wait and see what happens."

Athlone Town v Wexford Youths, Lissywollen, 4.30pm

HOW THEY GOT HERE

1st round: Whitehall Rangers 0-7 Athlone Town; Wexford Youths bye
1/4 finals: Athlone Town 2-0 Cork City; Wexford Youths 3-1 DLR Waves

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