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ATHLONE TOWN ARE Women’s FAI Cup champions for the very first time.
Penalty shootout specialists in 2023, Ciarán Kilduff’s side eventually came out on top of a see-saw encounter against Shelbourne — a repeat of the 2022 final — in front of 3,526 fans at Tallaght Stadium.
Dana Scheriff and Gillian Keenan were their goalscoring heroes from play in a dramatic, emotional victory; the latter the super sub who sent the game to penalties with a 116th-minute volley.
Alex Kavanagh rattled the crossbar from 13 yards to confirm the Midlanders as champions with Scheriff, Player of the Match Chloe Singleton, Kayleigh Shine and Jesi Rossman all on target in the shootout.
Athlone defeated Galway United and league champions Peamount on penalties through their cup run, while also beating Shels to President’s Cup glory in the same manner at the outset of the season.
In the first Women’s FAI Cup final to go to extra-time since Wexford Youths downed the Reds on spot kicks in 2015, it looked like Jemma Quinn would prove the matchwinner after completing her brilliant brace in the 104th minute, but the Midlanders reigned supreme with Laurie Ryan lifting the silverware.
It also denied Noel King of a winning swansong as Shelbourne manager.
Kilduff’s Athlone started the brighter of the sides, and had the first real chance amidst a goalmouth scramble. Rossman ultimately flashed across goal, after Singleton and Kellie Brennan both helped the ball on from a third-minute corner.
Shelbourne enjoyed the lions’ share of possession, with Kavanagh and Rachel Graham gaining a foothold in midfield and their intricate passing eye-catching. Tackles flew in, with Kavanagh, the ever-impressive Noelle Murray and Shauna Brennan getting stuck in.
Athlone were hungry and had the pick of the chances, though, the Midlanders making their impact felt on the break. Singleton lifted well over, while Madie Gibson shot straight at Amanda McQuillan on two occasions and Lauren Karabin played a dangerous ball across goal to no avail.
Shels’ only real chance of the first half arrived in the 29th minute, when 15-year-old Hannah Healy robbed Rossman and pulled back to Murray, but she was blocked by Kellie Brennan.
Four minutes later, the ball was in the back of the net at the other end, courtesy of Scheriff. The Golden Boot winner pounced after Maggie Pierce’s clearance ricocheted off the post. A good move down the right began with a big Kellie Brennan header, with Singleton’s cross troubling the unfortunate Pierce – who had brilliantly blocked her earlier.
In terms of football, the opening period petered out from there with a Scheriff wide the only real opportunity of note. But it was not without incident: things got fiery, with Megan Smyth-Lynch booked for a push on Roisin Molloy and later limping off with an injury, while Healy saw yellow for sliding in on teenage goalkeeper Katie Keane, who left Shels for Athlone in the mid-season. Shauna Brennan went in the book early in the second period, too.
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Shelbourne's Rebecca Devereux and Kate Slevin of Athlone Town. Bryan Keane / INPHO
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It was as you were for much of the early exchanges on the restart. Shelbourne had the majority of the ball but struggled to break down Athlone, and the Town had more clear-cut chances.
Gibson was lively, finding joy down the left. She sent a pinpoint corner in from that side around the hour-mark and McQuillan stepped up to stop Singleton’s header. Murray had a big opportunity to level matters at the other end, when a Kavanagh delivery exposed poor Athlone defending and Keane spilled, but the experienced Dubliner lifted over.
The Midlanders remained an attacking threat, but the pendulum swung Shels’ way as they piled the pressure on for an equaliser. Leah Doyle went close at the back post, but it was substitute Quinn who eventually prodded home in the 75th minute. She reacted first when Keane fumbled Pierce’s delivery, and her sliding celebration delighted the vocal Reds support.
There were chances for a coveted winner at either end down the home straight — Gibson rattling the bar, and Quinn seeing her injury-time effort tipped away by Keane — but extra-time appeared imminent.
The additional period threw up two real chances: Quinn and Keenan’s goals, one in either half. They were both excellent finishes, in contrast with the scrappier normal time offerings.
Shelbourne’s experience was best seen in Quinn’s 104th-minute effort: Murray’s lobbed ball in was held up by long-time captain Pearl Slattery and 34-year-old Coolock native Quinn fired home, whipping off her jersey in raucous celebration.
But that proved premature as Athlone subs Muireann Devaney and Keenan combined to send the game for the shootout.
There, Gibson hit the upright, while Shels had mixed fortunes with Slattery, Healy and Rebecca Devereaux scoring, but Kavanagh’s miss – and McQuillan blazing over – proved costly.
The Athlone outpouring of emotion at the final whistle said it all.
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My refusal to buy even the cheapest Saorview box to receive RTE means I haven’t seen it since the changeover,do programmes still resemble 80′s American community t.v.?.If there’s a Rugby game I can’t see anywhere else I stick the player on the laptop,otherwise no thanks.
They don’t scrimp on snacks because we the public pay for them.
Same tired auld presenters sure if the show is not working on Saturday we’ll just move to one of the other days sure go wan pick one there’s 6 more.
Tubs = messi shows how delusional RTE are he has about as much talent for interviewing people as me and I can barely talk at the best of times
Turgidy is too bland for words, no idea how he came to be the highest-paid ‘artist’ on taxpayer TV – as for the rest of it…..ugh. Just ugh! Actually it’s all ugh, just Turgidy is ughier, if that is possible.
I’ll give you this, even though I don’t know you, and, generally, handstands are not that important, your achievement is much more important than what we’ve learned from RTE.
Just the same old sh*te churned out in another crap version of the same format fronted by the same talentless gimps. Only there because of nepotism and despite no talent have a job for life. Meanwhile to see anything worth watching we all subscribe to sky yet are force to pay the rte tax that is the tv licence. Just scrap the institution altogether and let the publuc vote with their feet.
Ah now I see the urgency in sending people to prison over not paying their TV licence – the RTE branded Cookies!!! This bunch of saps can’t be left without their RTE treats!
If you seen any of the 50 reruns of every program ever shown by RTE…fear not!…..you can now be bored out of your tree on the internet too with RTE Player….again and again!
Who (I’ll use the word wrote) wrote this article, are we to believe that it is just drivel about more drivel? There are people who could have written this properly for ye, pointed out the pros and cons, oh I know they are not really pros but they are extremely well overpaid, the cons have also been spotted by previous contributors
I hearby refuse to pay my T.V licence renewal and henceforth accept 10 years hard labour at Spike Island prison, but please do not make me pay for the likes of this shower of talentless wasters!
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