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Shels break Athlone hearts to complete the double

Updated / Sunday, 6 Nov 2022 17:33
Shelbourne captain Pearl Slattery celebrates with the trophy
Shelbourne captain Pearl Slattery celebrates with the trophy

Shelbourne completed the double as they eased past a gutsy Athlone Town 2-0 at Tallaght Stadium to lift the EVOKE.ie FAI Women's Cup on Sunday afternoon.

Eight days after clinching the league title ahead of Athlone, Shels inflicted more heartache on the midlanders as first-half goals from Jessie Stapleton and Pearl Slattery settled the contest.

Athlone never threw in the towel, carving out a number of chances in the second half, but Noel King's team had too much nous and experience to relinquish their advantage, taking the glory in front of just over 5,000 fans - a record attendance for a women’s cup final.

Shelbourne could now become just the second team, after Cork City in 2017, to do the men's and women's FAI Cup double if Damien's Duff's charges can defeat Derry City at the Aviva Stadium next weekend.

The heavens opened just before kick-off, greasing up the surface and making for a topsy-turvy start.

Shels could have broken the deadlock with only 25 seconds on the clock when Keeva Keenan caught a dropping ball sweetly on the edge of the box, but keeper Niamh Coombes got her angles right to make a decent save.

At the other end Slattery misjudged a ball over the top, allowing Emily Corbet to race towards goal. She just lacked the pace to get away from a posse of recovering defenders, but the attacks - and counter-attacks - kept coming.

Six minutes in, Shelbourne took the lead.

Alex Kavanagh curled a free-kick from the left into the box. Coombes - who looked nailed on to claim it - failed to keep a hold of the slippy ball, which bounced off the back of Stapleton and dropped into the net.

It was a desperately soft goal, with Athlone's appeals for a free out correctly waved away by referee Sean Grant. The midlanders however responded well.

Corbet continued to lurk with intent around the penalty box, flashing a header into the arms of Amanda Budden, while Muireann Devaney began to get more involved.

And then, in 23rd minute, Shels doubled their lead.

Another set-piece badly exposed Athlone. This time a corner from the left was initially won by Shauna Fox, whose header looped up nicely for skipper Slattery to glance home from a yard out.

It was tough on Athlone who continued to play some good football. Devaney screwed a left-footed effort well wide before the half-hour mark after nice approach play; moments later Devaney muscled her way through the centre of the park and fed Corbet, who cut back on to her left foot and saw the stung taken out of her shot by a timely block.

Then Róisín Molloy escaped down the left and fizzed in a low cross that Corbet almost got on the end of.

It was encouraging stuff, but it looked like a tall order for Athlone to claw their way back into the contest considering Shels conceded just 13 goals in the entire 27-game league campaign.

Trailing 2-0 at the break, Tommy Hewitt’s charges needed something special.

Shels almost killed the game two minutes into the second half though when Megan Smyth-Lynch executed a super volley that Coombes turned around the post. Soon after, Keenan’s cross from the right nicked an Athlone defender and spun on to the crossbar.

The Reds were not sitting back on their lead.

As Hewitt’s side piled more bodies forward in search of a lifeline, Shels increasingly stretched them on the break, Noelle Murray stinging Coombes’ hands with a good hit.

Hewitt made a triple substitution on the hour mark to try and turn the tide, with Kate Slevin, Kellie Brennan and Kayleigh Shine entering the fray.

The changes rejuvenated Athlone, as Molloy fired wide before Scarlett Herron tested Budden with a beautifully struck 25-yarder.

They thought they’d pulled one back with 20 minutes to go after Herron glanced home a wicked Molloy cross, but the offside flag was raised. Replays suggested that was a very harsh call.

King was able to bring USA World Cup winner Heather O’Reilly off the bench to help Shels see it out, a signifier of their strength in depth.

Still Athlone kept plugging away. Slevin blazed over from a tight angle, Gibson tested Budden with a good free-kick, and then – in Athlone’s best chance of the game - Gibson blazed over with the goal at her mercy following good work from Brennan.

Brennan herself was denied soon after when Kavanagh – terrific throughout – dispossessed her in the box with a sliding tackle.

That took the wind out of Athlone’s sails as they finally seemed to concede that today was not their day.

Shelbourne got over the line to spark wild celebrations on the pitch and in the stands.

The double is theirs.

Shelbourne: Amanda Budden; Jessica Gargan, Jessie Stapleton, Pearl Slattery (capt), Shauna Fox, Alex Kavanagh (Emma Starr 90), Abbie Larkin, Noelle Murray (Jemma Quinn 90), Megan Smyth-Lynch (Heather O’Reilly 72), Keeva Keenan (Rachel Graham 77), Leah Doyle

Athlone Town: Niamh Coombes; Jessica Hennessy, Muireann Devaney, Gillian Keenan (Kate Slevin 60), Emily Corbet (Kellie Brennan 60), Laurie Ryan (capt), Maddison Gibson, Kelsey Munroe (Kayleigh Shine 60), Roisin Molloy, Scarlett Herron (Lucy-Jane Grant 90), Melissa O’Kane

Attendance: 5,073

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