Athlone Town returned to the top of the League Of Ireland Women’s Premier Division table last night as they defeated Waterford 2-0 at the RSC.
Goal Scorers
Waterford:
Athlone Town: Own Goal (20), Aoife Murphy O’Connor (42)
A well-taken goal and an unfortunate own goal were what separated the teams, both coming from excellent crosses in the first half. Athlone are currently top of the table by a single point, but with a weaker goal difference than Shelbourne, they were clearly aiming for a bigger win and kept pressing in the second half. Waterford held strong defensively and created some decent chances of their own, but neither side managed to score after the break. Remarkably, Athlone have only let in seven goals across their 16 league games so far.
Athlone Town made their return to domestic action last night as they had been away on European duties earning qualification to the first ever Woman’s Europa Cup with a 3-1 win over Breidablik from Iceland.
And after 20 minutes at the RSC,They were infront. A cross from Kelly Brady on the right hand side was turned into her the Waterford net by Waterford’s Chloe Atkinson.
Just before halftime, Athlone Town were 2 infront another cross from the right handside this time from Hannah Waesch landed at O’Connor who had the composure to take a touch and drill it into the back of the net.
A really positive takeaway for Waterford was that, apart from Maeve Williams, every player who finished the game came through the club’s academy system. That includes debutant Kate Tomkins, who is still playing with the U17s.
What’s Next
Athlone Town are back at home on Saturday as they host Shamrock Rovers, while Waterford make the trip to Peamount United
Teams
Waterford: Maeve Williams; Chloe Atkinson (Danielle Griffin ’86), Sophie Moran, Lauren Walsh (Stephanie Dumevi ’49), Meadhbh Doherty, Jessica Lawler; Sophie Slattery, Orla Hickey, Issy Walsh (Mia Lenihan ’80); Fiana Bradley, Erin O’Brien (Kate Tomkins ’86).
Athlone Town: Maria Matthaiou; Kellie Brennan (Ciara O’Neill ’45), Natalie McNally, Kayleigh Shine, Sarah Rice; Izzy Groves (Kate Slevin ’69), Hannah Waesch (Alexis Strickland ’84); Roisin Molloy (Maddison Gibson ’69), Aoife O’Connor, Emma Mooney; Kelly Brady (Hazel Donegan ’69).