ATHLONE TOWN MANAGER Tommy Hewitt spoke with a mixture of anger and defiance in the aftermath of his side’s FAI Cup final defeat to Shelbourne.
After ending as runners-up in the Women’s Nations League on the final day of the season and then coming out on the wrong end of a 2-0 score line here – not to mention some refereeing decisions – Hewitt could not contain his frustration.
That sense of injustice was tempered somewhat by what he is adamant is a bright future for the Midlands club, with a suggestion that some of his better players might be picked off met with incredulity.
“Why? Why would they want to leave Athlone at this moment in time? Where we’re going, I can’t see why they would want to go anywhere else,” he said, as The Cranberries’ Zombie was blared over the PA system at Tallaght Stadium while Shelbourne players mingled with their delighted families in the stands.
“Maybe last year, but I think we’re creating something here that is going to be very, very big in the next couple of years. I know we will keep the group together because they know and believe that this is the place to be.
“We are going to be a different animal next season, I can guarantee you that. We will take decisions like that out of referees hands. Sorry now, I am a bit emotional, but that’s the way it is.
“If you add one or two players to this group, we’ve also an exciting young group coming through as well. We will be ready for the next couple of years to take over this league.”
The decisions Hewitt speaks of relate to referee Seán Grant awarding a soft free kick that led to Shels’ early opening goal.
Allied to that, Scarlett Herron’s second-half header which would have got Athlone back in the game was ruled out for offside, only for replays to suggest that goal should have clearly stood.
“Listen, I don’t want to say too much but I have got to be honest. We’ve worked very hard all season to be in a position we’re in today,” Hewitt added.
“Then you are asking three guys to do their job, and they didn’t do it. I seen it there now, it’s not that it’s close. There is no question [of offside].
“Their first goal, it is never a free kick here. It’s beyond our control. We can only control what we can control. Congratulations to Shelbourne but at the end of the day we’re bitterly disappointed that people can’t do their jobs properly.
“In the second half Shelbourne didn’t lay a glove on us and I think if we’d have scored a goal in that time we then go on to win the game.
“That’s how confident I was. But you’re relying on other people to do their jobs. That’s football isn’t it? that’s sport.
On the flip side of that frustration was the unbridled joy for Shels captain Pearl Slattery, who helped herself to a goal and was also shown a yellow card in the second half when she took one for the team with a cynical foul to stop Athlone’s Emily Corbet in her tracks.
“It’s unbelievable, you come in fighting for two trophies and we had unfinished business from last season,” she said, referencing the Cup final defeat to Wexford when the double was also on the line having won the league on the final day of the campaign.
“The season is long and to come out with a double is amazing. People thought we celebrated too much last year but we wouldn’t change a thing Wexford deserved it. Athlone were tough, I’ve so much respect for them.
“We didn’t want to be talking about their story though, we wanted to be talking about the Shelbourne story.”
Fellow scorer Jessie Stapleton was also insisting this Double triumph should only be the start of what the club can achieve.
“I think every game you play at a high level, you take those experiences on. Hopefully it helps you in the future. As a club we just want to keep pushing and pushing and hopefully to do more in the Champions League as well.
“Athlone gave us a great game. They’ve come on so much this season so it’s tough on them.”
