Cork City blown away by Shels in FAI Cup semi
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Daire Walsh
SHELBOURNE…………………..5
CORK CITY………………………0
Daire Walsh
A scoring blitz either side of the half-time break was the catalyst at Tolka Park on Saturday as Cork City crashed out at the semi-final stage of the Sports Direct Women’s FAI Cup at the hands of Shelbourne.
On an equal footing with their Metropolitan counterparts for the vast majority of the opening period, City eventually found themselves 2-0 down at the interval courtesy of quickfire Shels goals by Kate Mooney and Noelle Murray. There was less than 30 seconds gone on the clock in the second half when Murray grabbed her second of the tie and with Christie Gray and Megan Smyth-Lynch also finding the net, Shels comfortably progressed to a fourth consecutive FAI Cup decider.
Thanks to earlier wins over fellow Leesiders Douglas Hall and Bohemians, Cork advanced to the last four of this competition for the first time since 2020. Back then, a brace of goals from current Celtic star Saoirse Noonan helped a City outfit managed by Rónán Collins to overcome the challenge of Treaty United in Bishopstown.
Facing Shels in their own back yard was always going to be a much tougher task than their last visit to the penultimate round, but with Dorothea Greulich and Orlaith O’Mahony providing protection to the back-four, Danny Murphy’s charges largely limited Shels to half-chances in the early exchanges. There were also occasions when City found space inside the opposition half and while their final pass lacked accuracy at times, they were perilously close to taking the lead in the 33rd minute.
After racing onto a through ball, Becky Cassin found herself one-on-one with Reds netminder Amanda McQuillan, but ultimately fired her shot past the left-hand post. This served as a warning sign for Shels, who responded by impressively stamping their authority on the game.
Within two minutes of nearly falling behind at the opposite end, Shels broke the deadlock through a close-range finish by centre-forward Mooney. This came as a hammer blow for City and there was to be a further set-back when Murray dispatched a penalty to the net on 37 minutes.
An outstanding fingertip save from Una Foyle denied Murray a second goal when she tried her luck from distance moments later, but City were still two goals adrift – and facing into an uphill battle – on the resumption.
Although there was the possibility of the visitors forging a second half fightback, this prospect was effectively eliminated within a minute of the action resuming. Following a run up the right-flank, wing-back Gray picked out Murray close to the City goal and she comfortably doubled her tally with a low finish to the bottom left-hand corner.
This completely took the sting out of the game and even though Shaunagh McCarthy and Kiera Sena added energy off the City bench, a fourth Shels goal arrived through the left foot of the excellent Gray just shy of the third-quarter mark.
A goal from substitute Megan Smyth-Lynch brought the day’s scoring to an end in stoppage-time and following this comprehensive reversal, City will now close out their Women’s Premier Division campaign with home encounters against DLR Waves and Sligo Rovers over the next two weekends.
SHELBOURNE: Amanda McQuillan; Jessica Gargan, Nia Hannon, Keeva Keenan (Megan Smyth-Lynch 61); Christie Gray (Lucy O’Rourke 72), Rachel Graham (Alex Kavanagh 61), Maggie Pierce, Leah Doyle; Roma McLaughlin (Rebecca Devereux 80), Noelle Murray; Kate Mooney (Hannah Healy 72).
CORK CITY: Una Foyle; Alix Mendez, Niamh Cotter, Freya de Mange, Heidi Mackin (Shaunagh McCarthy 56); Dorothea Greulich (Aoibhin Donnelly 70), Orlaith O’Mahony; Coleen Kennedy O’Connell (Lauren Egbuloniu 70), Becky Cassin, Barrett Eidson (Chloe Atkinson 70); Eva Mangan (Kiera Sena 56).
Referee: Daryl Carolan (Louth).