Shelbourne boss Noel King admits his team made "mistakes" when celebrating their title win last year.
Twelve months ago, the Reds beat Wexford Youths to snatch the league away from Peamount - who suffered a shock loss to Galway - in a remarkable last day that sparked joyous celebrations.
A week later, Shels lost 3-1 to an Ellen Molloy-inspired Wexford Youths in the EVOKE.ie FAI Women's Cup final as their double dreams evaporated.
They find themselves in a similar scenario this week, having captured another league that went right to the wire with a very impressive win 4-0 at Wexford Youths, who themselves could have been crowned champions had they won.
Now, Shels have the chance to finally get the double they crave when they take on Athlone Town in the cup decider at Tallaght Stadium this Sunday - and King is determined to maintain focus.
"We made a lot of mistakes in terms of celebrating [last year]," he said.
"I think it was brilliant. You'd do the same again because you got into Europe – and there's no Europe for [winning] the cup. We did want to win it of course but we took our eye off the ball and I take responsibility for that.
"We were there last season and we got beaten, so you would say there is unfinished business. If we could get a double, it would be fantastic.
"It was a big occasion down in Wexford, we had five busloads going down - I don’t think that has ever been seen for an away game, certainly in women’s football, maybe not even in men’s football. The atmosphere afterwards was terrific.
"The natural follow-on then is that you want to try and win the cup. But then Athlone have the same feelings as well."
The midlanders have been the season's surprise package, finishing second in what was a three-horse race for the league crown between themselves, Shels and Wexford Youths on the last day of action.
Tommy Hewitt's charges will be a formidable challenge, but Shels are loaded with quality and experience.
USA star Heather O'Reilly is back to help them, having initially returned to the States following Shelbourne's exit from the Champions League.
The presence of a player of her pedigree is an obvious lift, but King did air frustrations that the club were unable to bring in active professionals to help them in Europe. Coupled with another talent drain to England, it's been a challenging year for the Dublin outfit, who did not get any compensation for losing the likes of Saoirse Noonan, Emily Whelan to clubs across the water.
"The women's game around the world is getting stronger," King added.
"We got into Europe last year and we asked if we could bring in a professional player, and we were told, 'no’. Because it’s an amateur league, we couldn’t play professional players. And then you are going to play against professional players, so that doesn’t make any sense.
"You are competing against them in Europe. We weren't competing against pros in Ireland. But if you are in a competition you should have at least the opportunity to do that. The sooner it’s changed the better."
Despite all that, Shelbourne remain the team to beat - and made headlines around the world when O'Reilly made her shock switch there in July.
Elaborating on the impact O'Reilly made in the handful of games she's featured in, King said: "She’s a positive person.
"She sees the young players that are coming through and the work that’s being done at Shels in the academies and underage levels. We have so many teenagers in the first-team, it’s amazing. And they would benefit from playing alongside Heather or other professionals, as you’d have a mix, to get to where you wanted to go.
"She has had a great influence on the girls. Maybe not so much on the pitch, but on the training ground and the way she behaves. She is a professional in every manner. That’s good for everybody to see."
Watch the Women's FAI Cup final, Athlone Town v Shelbourne, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on Sunday from 2.30pm with live radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 and follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app
