Shelbourne 2
Athlone Town 0
HISTORY FOR SHELBOURNE, despair for Athlone Town.
And the contrasting scenes at the full-time could not have been more vivid.
A red wall of joy, black and blue agony for the Midlanders.
Shels boss Noel King threw his bottle of water to the heavens in celebration as his bench emptied onto the pitch to celebrate.
Keevan Keenan ran into the arms of goalkeeper Amanda Budden and was lifted up almost Dirty Dancing style.
In the other box, Athlone stopper Niamh Coombes slumped to the ground, buried her head between her legs and probably wished the ground would swallow her up.
Shelbourne, the Women’s National League champions, cruised to successive titles on the final day last weekend and delivered on the big occasion here to make it a double by lifting the FAI Cup in front of a record crowd of 5,073.
Set-pieces were the order of the day and those fine margins were quite literal, with the goals from Jessie Stapleton and Pearl Slattery both being prodded home right on the goal line after the Midlanders failed to defend their box.
That is what will haunt their manager, Tommy Hewitt, who has overseen a dramatic improvement in this squad of players.
This was a reminder of the work they must do to catch up, even if at times their general play was more impressive than the victors.
But Cup finals are all about finding a way; getting the job done by any means necessary, and once Stapleton’s sixth-minute goal broke the deadlock it was the Reds who maintained control.
Alex Kavanagh, who’s precise free-kick delivery led to that opener which Coombes spilled onto the back of Stapleton, was crucial to maintaining that element of composure in their play.
The centre midfielder was precise with her passing but also had the helpful habit of reading play and anticipating Athlone counter attacks.
On several occasions she read danger before it had the chance to materialise into a more dangerous opening, intercepting the ball and keeping Shels on the front foot.
Stapleton, her partner in the middle of pitch, added an element of grace on the ball.
And when Slattery tapped home the easiest of headers in the 23rd minute from another poorly-defender set-piece, this time a Megan Smyth-Lynch corner which Shaun Fox beat Coombes to in the air, King’s side were able to maintain their dominance by defending with experience.
Athlone huffed and puffed, Hewitt making a triple substitution on the hour mark to try and inspire a reaction.
One speculative long-range effort from Scarlett Herron stung the palms of Budden and when they did have the ball in the net the offside flag tempered that fleeing enthusiasm.
Herron’s glancing header into the top corner looked onside but was ruled out, and as Shels endured their most sloppy period entering the final 20 minutes, King turned to the experienced American Heather O’Reilly off the bench to try and see out the game.
Slattery showed a cynical edge not long before when she was yellow carded for fouling Emily Corbet after the Athlone striker turned the Shels skipper and was heading for the final third.
It was one of the many little moments that ensured their superiority shone through.
Another came barely a minute after Shelbourne double their lead and had King throwing his hands in the air and applauding when Abbie Larkin chased back the guts of 20 yards down the right wing to win back possession from Roisin Molly and then return the ball to Stapleton with a deft back heel.
The earlier control that Shelbourne had on proceedings dissipated in the final quarter and it was all about seeing the game out by any means necessary.
Maddison Gibson missed a superb chance with 10 minutes remaining as she blazed over after coming onto a Kellie Brennan pull back to the centre of the box.
There were some jeers from the Athlone fans as Budden took her time retrieving the ball from behind her goal but, with a two-goal lead and a double in sight there really was no reason to keep the game at the kind of frenetic pace which Hewitt was urging his players to try and maintain.
Shelbourne: Budden; Gargan, Stapleton, Slattery (c), Fox, Kavanagh (Starr 90), Larkin, Murray (Quinn 90), Smyth-Lynch, Keenan, Doyle.
Athlone Town: Coombes; Hennessy, Devaney, Keenan, Corbet, Ryan (c), Gibson, Monroe, Molloy (Daly 89), Herron (Grant 90), O’Kane.
Referee: Seán Grant
