WOMEN’S SOCCER
Late equaliser denies Cork City all three points in Tallaght
SHAMROCK ROVERS…………………..1
CORK CITY………………………………….1
Daire Walsh
Joy Ralph bagged an 88th minute equaliser at Tallaght Stadium on Saturday as Cork City were dramatically denied their sixth win of the SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division season.
Playing for the first time since their 2-1 triumph at home to Bohemians on July 13, City welcomed a familiar face into their starting line-up. Just days after returning to the club for a second spell, Becky Cassin was handed an attacking wide role as part of a 4-2-3-1 formation.
While Melissa O’Kane forced a low save from goalkeeper Una Foyle with just under two minutes gone in the contest, the City defence were relatively comfortable during the early exchanges.
Nevertheless, Foyle was called back into action to save an Ella Kelly effort from a tight angle with her feet and Emily Corbet later had a close-range header deflected over the crossbar.
In fact, Rovers – who were captained by former Republic of Ireland international Aine O’Gorman – largely dominated possession throughout the opening period, whereas City were only enjoying brief sojourns into the opposition half.
Yet despite the strong hands of Foyle keeping out another O’Kane shot on 36 minutes, City dug deep to ensure the tie remained scoreless at the interval.
Rovers introduced Lia O’Leary and Ralph in a bid to add fresh impetus to their play, but instead it was the visitors who finally opened the scoring four minutes after the resumption.
Lone City striker Colleen Kennedy O’Connell superbly pounced on a loose back pass to former Cork netminder Amanda Budden and although retreating Rovers centre-half Jessica Hennessy displayed magnificent desire to prevent her opponent from putting the ball into an empty net, she only succeeded in poking it home for an unfortunate own goal.
This suddenly put City in sight of another impressive top-flight victory and their second of the 2024 season against Rovers – a 2-1 triumph at Turner’s Cross on May 11 being the first.
As expected, Rovers attempted to ramp up the pressure in response to this set-back and another ex-Ireland international in Stephanie Zambra (nee Roche) was added to their attack inside the final quarter.
A stout City rearguard marshalled by Niamh Cotter and Ciara McNamara had looked set to hold out for all three points, before the determined Ralph produced the finishing touches to a set-piece move from the hosts and Foyle then had to be at her best to deny the Hoops substitute a winning goal from point-blank range in stoppage-time.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Amanda Budden; Maria Reynolds, Jessica Hennessy, Shauna Fox (Savannah McCarthy 91); Fiona Owens (Lia O’Leary 46), Alannah Prizeman (Stephanie Zambra 72), Melissa O’Kane, Ella Kelly; Scarlett Herron (Aoife Kelly 72), Aine O’Gorman; Emily Corbet (Joy Ralph 46).
CORK CITY: Una Foyle; Alix Mendez, Niamh Cotter, Ciara McNamara, Shaunagh McCarthy; Freya de Mange, Orlaith O’Mahony (Heidi Mackin 88); Barrett Eidson, Eva Mangan, Becky Cassin (Dorothea Greulich 62); Colleen Kennedy O’Connell (Chloe Atkinson 78).
Referee: Claire Purcell (Waterford).