Women's FAI Cup Final Preview: Athlone Town -v- Shelbourne

ATHLONE TOWN

There’s an old story told by Billy Connolly about a Wildlife documentary crew filming a pride of feeding lions on the plains of Africa. A change in the wind alerts the lions to the presence of the film crew and their carnivorous attentions turn in their direction. Slowly the sound and camera men start to back away. As they do, the sound man slips off his boots and reaches into his back-pack, pulling out a pair of running shoes.

“You’ll never outrun lions in those”, says the cameraman.

“I don’t have to outrun them”, says the sound man, “I just need to outrun you”.

Sunday’s final presents us with two good teams, each of which has lots of good players. They finished first and second in the league table, separated by just two points after 27 rounds of matches.

There’s not much between them. So my guess is this will come down to self-belief. And when it comes to a one-off, two horse race, there is no set amount of it that you need, you just have to have more than the other lot.

In this instance my question would be, do Athlone really, truly, deep down in their hearts, believe they can win this? Because the other lot do!

If Athlone can match Shelbourne for mental resilience and optimism, then we will have a cracking match on our hands. Throughout the season the Midlands side have played with exactly that; resilience, driving through teams when they were in the mood, and grinding out results when they weren’t.

Anchored in defence by captain and centre-back Jessica Hennessy, they are also protected by the intelligence and efficiency of Laurie Ryan playing in front of the back three. Their midfield is powered by the tirelessly aggressive play of Muireann Devaney and up front they are formidable.

The quartet of Maddie Gibson, Emily Corbet, Gillian Keenan and Roisin Molloy will create a multitude of differently coloured problems for any defence. In Corbet they have a striker with 23 goals to her name so far, and in Gibson they have one of the most talented and ruthless performers in the league.

Indeed, in everything the American does, Gibson declares herself a player of absolute belief, displaying the kind of belligerent confidence that all great players (and teams) need. The question is, will there be enough of this elsewhere in the Athlone team when the crunch comes on Sunday afternoon?

SHELBOURNE

Last weekend was a triumphant one for Noel King’s Shelbourne. Overcoming title rivals Wexford Youths earned them a third league crown since they merged with Raheny United in 2015, which is all well and good, but the emphatic nature of the win was important too, for it announced that the Reds’ killer instinct was back.

It has been an up and down season for King’s side. They opened the campaign with such ferocity that they arrived at the end of May having won 11 of their 12 league matches, and having conceded just one goal. The worry was that the league would become a red procession.

But over the Summer they lost Jess Ziu, Saoirse Noonan and Chloe Mustaki, while Rachel Graham and Jess Gargan both suffered injuries that kept them out for months at a time. Results suffered as new players settled in and they didn’t fully recover until late September when they beat Bohemians in their Cup semi-final at Tolka Park.

Even then their league run-in was an example of steady progress with single-goal wins over Cork and DLR Waves before an Abbie Larkin brace put paid to Sligo. Then came Wexford and, as Champions do, a magnificent performance unleashed precisely when it was needed.

In the aftermath of that game there was, understandably, some talk from the Reds of having proved the doubters wrong, but would it be unfair to suggest that that doubt existed more within the camp than without?

Because, above all else, what Shelbourne achieved in Ferrycarrig Park last weekend was the absolute crushing of any self-doubt, ahead of a match that offers them a chance to win the coveted double which they themselves know they passed up last season.

This is a team that will be very difficult to beat on Sunday afternoon. The back four have rediscovered their former miserliness, conceding just two goals in their last five outings. Anchored by club legend and captain Pearl Slattery they are now also benefitting from the blossoming of her central partner, Shauna Fox.

Alex Kavanagh has grown similarly in stature in central midfield where she partners Jess Stapleton, arguably Shelbourne’s most important player this season. Jess Gargan’s return in a more forward role down the right offers the constant threat of laser accurate crosses while the elfin figure of Abbie Larkin is developing into a seriously effective foil to their street-wise, veteran striker Noelle Murray.

Win or lose on Sunday, this Shelbourne team won’t hand anything over without a fight.

Referee:  Sean Grant

MATCH STATS

In their three league meetings this season the teams are tied, having both won one game 2-0, and drawn the third 1-1.

Athlone have yet to concede a goal in this year’s Cup run, scoring ten times themselves in their three matches.

Shels have neither won nor lost by more than a single goal in Cup matches since their 2-0 semi-final defeat to Peamount in 2019.

PREDICTION

Athlone Town 1-3 Shelbourne

Athlone Town

Injured: Unavailable.

Doubtful: Unavailable.

Suspended: None.

Shelbourne

Injured: Unavailable.

Doubtful: Unavailable.

Suspended: None.