LAST UPDATE | 3 Apr 2021
Cork City 0
Shelbourne 3
SAOIRSE NOONAN CAME back to haunt her former club, Cork City, on their return to Turner’s Cross as she scored twice to help Shelbourne make it two wins out of two at the beginning of the new Women’s National League [WNL] season on Saturday afternoon.
Noonan’s double after Emily Whelan’s opening goal was sure to impress onlooking Ireland manager Vera Pauw but more importantly for Noel King, it earned his side’s a well deserved victory.
Shelbourne made the most of the resplendent conditions at the Cross as they zipped the ball across the surface inside the opening exchanges.
And by the 12th minute, they had all but sealed the victory as they raced into a two-goal lead with some devastating attacking moves that City couldn’t live with.
The first goal came in fortuitous circumstances as City keeper Abby McCarthy, who otherwise had a great game and produced some superb saves, was caught in possession close to her goal and Emily Whelan’s tackle trickled across the line.
Jess Gargan thought she had made it 2-0 moments later but her close-range finish was correctly ruled out for offside. Jessie Stapleton wasn’t impressed though, as it looked like her header was already destined for the far corner before the intervention.
But then it was Saoirse Noonan’s turn to have her say on a momentous day for her former club as she expertly slotted home from a tight angle at the back post after Jessie Stapleton failed to connect with Alex Kavanagh’s cross for her first goal in the red of Shelbourne.
GOAL ⚽ Muted celebrations as Saoirse Noonan tucks one home against her former side to increase the lead for @shelsfc. 0-2 at Turner's Cross 🏟️
— Women's National League (@FAI_WNL) April 3, 2021
Watch the game LIVE for FREE on https://t.co/sUht8CZ1IG 🎥#WNL | #LOITV pic.twitter.com/VfN2Op6DCP
Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team Manager Pauw took her seat shortly after that goal to monitor Shelbourne’s Jamie Finn, Jess Ziu, Emily Whelan and Saoirse Noonan, as well as City’s Éabha O’Mahony, all of whom are in her provisional squad for the upcoming friendlies against Denmark and Belgium this week.
Noonan and Whelan ought to have added to their and their side’s tally before the break but they couldn’t find a way past McCarthy with their numerous attempts while Jess Ziu did beat the new City number one but was unfortunate to see her strike from the edge of the box crash against the right post.
It was a similar story in the second half with McCarthy again denying Noonan and Whelan while Lauren Egbuloniu had City’s only attempt at target from long-range.
But it was Noonan who would have the final say as she found the inside of the far post with a poked finish late on to claim the three points for her new club.
GOAL ⚽ Noonan grabs a second against her old side, helping @shelsfc rise to the top of the #WNL table.
— Women's National League (@FAI_WNL) April 3, 2021
Cork City 0-3 Shelbourne pic.twitter.com/j16RHhOYnx
CORK CITY: Abby McCarthy; Nathalie O’Brien, Ciara McNamara, Lauren Walsh, Shaunagh McCarthy (Lauren Singleton 89); Becky Cassin, Éabha O’Mahony; Eva Mangan (Laura Shine 68), Christina Dring (Leah Murphy 89), Sarah McKevitt (Nadine Seward 78); Lauren Egbuloniu (Kate O’Donovan 89).
SHELBOURNE: Amanda Budden; Jess Gargan, Pearl Slattery, Jessie Stapleton, Jamie Finn (Rachel Baynes 89); Rachel Graham, Alex Kavanagh (Mia Dodd 83); Jess Ziu, Saoirse Noonan, Ciara Grant (Leah Doyle 89); Emily Whelan.
Referee: Claire Purcell.
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Elsewhere in the WNL today, Galway WFC were 3-1 winners over Bohemians. Mayo ladies footballer Rachel Kearns continued her incredible goal-scoring form with her fourt in two games, while her Galway team-mates Kate Slevin and Lynsey McKey were also on target at Eamonn Deacy Park. Chloe Darby bagged Bohs’ consolation goal to make it 3-1 in the 71st minute.
DLR Waves got their season up and running with a 1-1 draw with Wexford Youths at the UCD Bowl this evening. With Pauw also watching this entertaining encounter, Carla McManus first-half strike was cancelled out by Wexford Youths captain Kylie Murphy in the 70th minute.
📊 LEVEL IT UP@YouthsWomen captain Kylie Murphy slots in following a superb pass from Ellen Molloy to secure a draw with @DLRWaves#WNL | #LOITV pic.twitter.com/rNRzWcNT32
— Women's National League (@FAI_WNL) April 3, 2021
Last but not least, Treaty United and Athlone Town played out a thrilling six-goal draw. Mo Nerny opened the scoring for the hosts at Athlone Town Stadium 10 minutes in, before Treaty’s Horgan sisters combined to make it 2-1; Rebecca first, Aoife second. And we had a fourth goal by the 18th minute, when Athlone’s Emma Donohoe scored a penalty.
Rebecca Horgan then got her second goal of the night in the 34th minute and it was 3-2 to the visitors at half time, before Katelyn Keogh equalised on the hour mark. Jenna Slattery was sent off after two yellow cards and while Treaty went down to 10 players, they held on accordingly.
With holders Peamount United lying idle after their win over Wexford last weekend, Shelbourne go top of the table.
- Additional reporting from Emma Duffy.
Tell that to limerick, on the cusp of the double
@Ave it: There’s always an exception or two but the normality is complete non-events and a predictable outcome until the later stages of the championship.
@Rochelle: it wouldn’t be like that if we have tiers and open draw and dispensed with the provincial championship or ran provincial at a different time of year
@Ave it: Limerick beat a division 3 team hardly that much of an upset?
Imagine trying to get a ticket with six teams playing on the same day
@Eugene O’ Sullivan: exactly. Terrible idea. Double header of tier 2 and 3 on the Saturday evening and Tier 1 / minor final as tradition on its own the Sunday.
- Abolish Provincial Championships
- Champions League format with seeded draws
- 8 groups of 4
- Teams that finish first and Second play for Sam
- Third team and fourth team play in Bed and C Championships respectively
- All players still get the opportunity to pull off shocks and play for Sam.
- all players have something to play for
- Plus think of how the fixtures being so structured would also allow the club game to flourish.
Think I’ll run for the County council now too
@Séamus Tierney: Probably one of the best ideas, because one of the main complaints along with lack of coverage is that a ‘B’ championship would take away a players chance for a upset or a big day out in Croke Park against a top team. At least with this they get both that and chance of winning some silverware.
@Séamus Tierney: that’s a good idea and Zi used to be for it, but it wouldn’t work because you can pretty much pick which 16 teams will qualify with 1 or 2 surprises. 2/3 of the marches would be drubbings that will attract no public interest and the 1 decent game really a dead rubber as both teams guaranteed 2 wins from the other matches.
@Séamus Tierney: that’s a good idea and I used to be for it, but it wouldn’t work because you can pretty much pick which 16 teams will qualify with 1 or 2 surprises. 2/3 of the matches would be drubbings/hammerings that will attract no public interest and the 1 decent game really a dead rubber as both teams guaranteed 2 wins from the other matches.
@Séamus Tierney: still the same amount of hammerings in champions league format
All they need to do is reduce the size of the ball to little more than tennis ball size and let them bring sticks onto the pitch to hit the reduced size ball, problem solved.
@Dino: nice idea but I could see this becoming a niche product, played by an elite few counties and generally ignored by everyone else.
@Etherman: As opposed to the big ball game we have ATM played by one ‘elite’ county and where everyone yearns after the competitiveness of the niche product??
The league is a far better competition. Can we not just swap them around and play the championship in the spring?
@Brian Dunne: what???
@Brian Dunne: the league is very competitive, but it’s not the competition teams really want to win. The Kerry manager said all throughout the league that they weren’t interested in winning it. He got his wish in the end.
@Stephen Walsh: yea but if it was the championship they would
Works for the ladies also as TG4 cover all grades. RTE who pay Brolly are part of the problem zero coverage of lower profile games .
Intercounty League starts 1st Jan. Champions league format starting in April. Finished by end of June All Ireland final. Players back to the clubs by mid July. Then county finals played worse case end of Sept. Solved both Hurling and football in 261 characters.
There is no perfect format. A champions league type group system or an NFL type fixture competition would work best in my opinion. Teams can come against opposition of all levels and benefit from each. Eliminated teams can go into a second tier competition. Every team would play at least 4 games at a minimum. Season tickets & game planning could also be organised well in advance.