SHELBOURNE AND WEXFORD Youths are two teams that know each other rather well.
Since Raheny United merged with Shelbourne before the 2015/16 season, both sides have met in almost every important decider since then.
Interestingly, the two dominant forces in Irish women’s soccer both met in last year’s WFAI cup final, with the south-eastern side claiming the cup after a penalty shoot-out.
A thrilling 120 minutes failed to separate the sides as they stood at two a-piece. Youths’ Ciara Rossiter bagged a goal in the last minute of normal time to cancel out Siobhan Killeen’s wonder-strike.
Wexford went on to take the lead in extra-time but Shels pulled one back at the death to send the decider to penalties.
A clean sweep from Wexford and two misses from the Dubliners meant that the cup was heading southbound with Will Doyle and his Youths side.
Wexford then went on to beat Shelbourne to the 2015/16 WNL title in May following a historic play-off. Shels did enjoy some success though — beating UCD Waves in the WNL Cup final the same month.
That was last season, however. This is a new year, and Shelbourne are hungry for revenge.
With the campaign well underway, Shels sit top of the WNL table and remain unbeaten. Casey McQuillan’s side have won six of their eight matches.
Their most recent victory — a 6-1 win away to Galway last weekend — puts them in high spirits for the highly-anticipated cup final, considering the first time they met the westerners this year they only managed one point.
Shelbourne could be considered slight favourites for the fixture thanks to their almost impeccable league form.
Wexford, on the other hand, sit in fourth place having won four of their seven games and drawn one. Youths dropped points to Peamount at the start of the season and their other loss was at the hands of today’s opponents.
The two sides last met in September, with Shelbourne getting their first victory in Ferrycarrig Park with 3-1 on the scoreboard.
Siobhan Killeen, Noelle Murray and Leanne Kiernan ensured that the north Dublin side took the points this time despite a late Wexford Youths’ goal.
In terms of the WFAI Cup, Shels came out the better of the two in a highly-contested semi-final against Peamount. McQuillan’s side won 4-1, but the encounter easily could have went the other side had Peamount got a vital breakthrough when Shels were just one up.
Youths breezed through their semi-final, putting seven past Kilkenny to book their place in a repeat of the 2015 final.
It’s hard to know which way this year’s WFAI Cup will go. Both teams will have their own extra motivations to win — Wexford will obviously want to retain their title, while Shelbourne seek revenge for last year and will hope to get their hands on their first FAI Cup since the merge. Raheny were victorious in 2012 and 2013.
Either way, it will be a classic battle-to-the-death style Shelbourne and Wexford Youths affair.
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