Galway United 1

Shelbourne 3

Mike Rafferty in Eamonn Deacy Park

THE concession of a goal less than a minute into this Women’s FAI Cup first round tie set the tone and obviously hit confidence as Galway United never recovered in meekly exiting the competition in front of a large crowd at Eamonn Deacy Park on Saturday evening.

Having shown their cup pedigree when winning the All-Island Cup last season and qualifying for a final meeting with Shamrock Rovers next week, expectations were high of an FAI Cup run, but while the draw was not kind against a quality Shelbourne side, a home game balanced that out somewhat in their favour.

There were some surprises in the team selection and while United were on the back foot from the off, the hosts were still only one in arrears at the break. In fairness, a bigger deficit would not have been an injustice as Shelbourne had all the scoring opportunities, but just didn’t take them.

United responded with three changes at the break and within two minutes, the equaliser was secured through Aislinn Meaney. They were right back in the contest and the chance was there to drive on and win the game. Unfortunately, there was no pick up in performance and while limited opportunities did arise, there was nothing clear-cut and it was the visitors who went on to score twice more to secure a merited success.

This outcome can be balanced out in different ways. Galway United played poorly and seldom looked like getting anything out of the game. On the other hand, Shelbourne are a good side, are playing well and are the unbeaten league leaders.

Manager Eoin Wearen went with his most experienced side and from the early exchanges, they got a grip on the game and seldom lost it. Some of their younger players were introduced in the second half and it was two of these who got their late goals.

Pictured: Galway United’s Emma Doherty getting the better of Shelbourne’s Keeva Keenan durinmg Saturday’s Women’s FAI Cup clash at Eamonn Deacy Park. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.