Ciarán Duffy of Post to Post Sport rounds-up all the goings on in Week Two of the Irish Women’s National League, with Shelbourne heading the early season table and Limerick’s Treaty United involved in another goal fest.
Saoirse Strikes Sends Shels Top
Shelbourne kept their 100% record intact and gained their second clean sheet as they moved top of the Women’s National League. Saoirse Noonan scored twice against her old club at Turners Cross as Noel Kings men secured a comfortable win.
It took just three minutes for Shels to take the lead as Emily Whelan found the net after taking the ball off a defender and shooting home. Just moments earlier, she had a thunder bolt shot cleared away. Shels continued to put Cork under pressure, having most of the possession. They made that tell again at the fifteen minute mark when Noonan scored against her old club. Cork were able to hold out Shels for the rest of the half. The Munster side created a few chances in the second half, but were unable to find the net. They did however limit Shels to a handful of chances. Noonan struck again late on to seal the win for Shelbourne. In two weeks time Shels face Peamount in a game that sees the top two from the past two seasons go head to head. Cork City 0-3 Shelbourne.
Galway Best Bohs To Climb To Second
Despite a good Bohs performance Galway claimed their first win of the season.
Rachel Kearns scored her fourth goal in two games as Galway took control with half hour gone. Kate Slevin scored five minutes later to send Galway into the break in a strong position. Linsey McKey made it 3-0 at the hour mark with a composed finish, shooting into the bottom corner to put her side in firm control. Chloe Darby got one back for Bohs with 20 minutes to go to give them a glimmer of hope. The Gypsies had chances late on to reduce the deficit but couldn’t take them. Chloe Singleton was dismissed for receiving a second yellow late on. Galway 3-1 Bohemians
Resilient Waves Earn Point Against Wexford
A tactically mature performance saw a young DLR Waves side frustrate Wexford Youths and earn a point at the UCD Bowl.
DLR started the game with high intensity and pressed Wexford into mistakes. Carla McManus took advantage of a defensive lapse and won the ball deep in the Youths have and firing into the bottom left corner. Waves disrupted Youths from there making it difficult for them to create much. Wexford had a few chances either side of halftime, but DLR defender Jess Gleeson was outstanding in defence with Eve Badana, who has been called up to the Ireland squad to train, solid in goal. Wexford eventually made their pressure tell, teenage sensation Ellen Molloy found captain Kylie Murphy who scored with one touch. From there Wexford had the better of the chances but Waves had opportunities to grab what would have been a deserved winner. In the end a draw was probably a fair result with both sides showing quality. DLR Waves 1-1 Wexford Youths
Athlone And Treaty Share Spoils In Hectic Thriller
A frantic game saw game saw both Athlone and Treaty secure their first point of the season.
Both sides scored early with Nerney netting for the midlands side before Rebecca Horgan equalized four minutes later. The other Horgan sister put the Limerick side ahead as Aoife scored just three minutes later. There’d be a penalty to cap off a mad 10-minute spell with Donohue converting to put Athlone back on level terms. Rebecca Horgan got her second with nine minutes left in the half to ensure Treaty went in ahead. The second half just had the one goal as Keogh equalized for Athlone. Treaty would find themselves down to ten women for the last twenty minutes as Slattery was shown a second yellow. There have been fifteen goals in Treaty United’s first two games of the season. Athlone Town 3-3 Treaty United
Table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | GF | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Shelbourne | 2 | 2 | 5 | +5 | 6 |
| 2 | Galway | 2 | 1 | 6 | +2 | 4 |
| 3 | Bohemians | 2 | 1 | 7 | +2 | 3 |
| 4 | Peamount United | 1 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| 5 | DLR Waves | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Wexford Youths | 2 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 1 |
| 7 | Athlone Town | 2 | 0 | 3 | -2 | 1 |
| 8 | Cork City | 2 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 1 |
| 9 | Treaty United | 2 | 0 | 5 | -4 | 1 |
This coming weekend is an international break.
The following weekend the Women’s National League returns.
Next Fixtures
Saturday 17th April
Bohemians v Cork City (14:00)
DLR Waves v Galway (18:00)
Peamount United v Shelbourne (18:00)
Sunday 18th April
Treaty United v Wexford Youths (14:00)
Post to Post Sport’s domestic football podcast comes out every Thursday covering Women’s National League as well as the League of Ireland. You can get the podcast on most platforms by searching Post to Post Sport or by going to PostToPost.Sport.Blog and clicking latest episodes.
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