Whatever happens in Sunday's FAI Women's Cup final, Athlone Town's Kayleigh Shine will not be short of vocal support.
When the Midlanders took on Shelbourne in last year's decider, a busload of family members roared its way to Tallaght Stadium to give her backing.
Fast forward to this week and Athlone are preparing to meet Shels again in a repeat match-up for the 2023 final, with the centre-back already forewarned that her loved ones will be filling the bus again on route to Tallaght.
"My family last year, they got a 52-seater bus and came up. They've the same done this year," Shine told RTÉ Sport as she looked ahead to Sunday's showpiece. .
"They’re just crazy, crazy people! It’s great though to know you have so many people behind you.
"Even though last year I wasn’t starting, they knew that before and they still came up. They were supporting myself, they were supporting all the girls that were playing. The support was just immense.
"I'm such a family-orientated person. Seeing them all come up, you just love to see them all. They do be commenting on everything on Facebook, they love everything about it. Even at the games at home, all my little cousins, you can just hear them screaming, 'Kayleigh!’ I’m on the ball and I’m just like, ‘oh my God.'"
Last year, the 20-year-old Ballinasloe native entered the fray when Athlone were 2-0 down and although the scoreline did not ultimately change, the magnitude of being involved in a cup final day was not overly diminished for a player who came through the club's youth ranks.
Indeed, 2022 was an unforgettable year for an Athlone senior team, who had only joined the league in 2020.
The cup run was no flash in the pan because they showed their mettle in a league title race in which they also finished runners-up to Shels.
Manager Tommy Hewitt earned plenty of plaudits for his role in guiding the team on two fronts but stepped down from the role in June, before being eventually succeeded by former League of Ireland striker Ciaran Kilduff.
Shine admitted that the departure of last year's SSE Airtricity Manager of the Year in the Women's Premier Division was difficult for the team, although they have been enthused by Kilduff and his assistant Ken Kiernan's impact.
"We had such a good run last year and then this year it didn't go as we’d have hoped, but we’re kind of coming along now again," she said.
"We learned so much from last year and then to not be in the same position this year it’s kind of hard. To be back up here again it’s great.
"Obviously Tommy’s gone now, he’s gone to Sligo so he’s on to bigger things again. We wish him all the best.
"Ciaran is in now and he’s doing great. We came back after the halfway point in the season and we had five wins, one loss and one draw. Our tables totally changed completely.
"He definitely has a lot of experience himself and he refers back to his own playing days and kind of talks to us about how to deal with certain things. He's been there himself and there’s not a better man to ask for encouragement. He knows everything about the game, he’s brilliant. He has Ken with him as well and they know so much about it all. It’s great to have them."
Athlone will go in as underdogs again on Sunday, having finished fifth following that late season rally, 11 points adrift of second-placed Shelbourne.
But familiarity with Tallaght Stadium - Athlone drew 4-4 there against Shamrock Rovers as recently as last weekend's final day of league action - and the experience of last year will stand them in good stead according to Shine.
"Even playing here last week against Shamrock Rovers, we couldn't have asked for a better fixture to come at the tight time because we got a sense of the pitch and what it’s like," she said.
"To be playing again on it this week, you couldn’t have asked for a better fixture.
"I definitely think since last year we've come on a lot. We kind of know what to expect. We were on the unlucky side last year so hopefully now we know what we can improve on. We’ve been working on it all since Ciaran came in. We know what we’re expecting this weekend."
Watch the Women's FAI Cup final, Athlone Town v Shelbourne, on Sunday from 2.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live radio commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
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