Galway WFC have booked their place in the Continental Tyres WNL Cup semi-final after an impressive 2-0 winning display against Cork City.
It was a deserved result for the Galway women who, despite dominating the opening half, were unable to breakdown the Cork defence with both sides remaining scoreless at the break.
However immediately on the resumption, Don O’Riordan’s side was finally rewarded, rattling the net twice within 10 minutes.
The first came in the 52nd minute when Méabh De Búrca got on the end of a Marie Curtin free kick to slip the ball through keeper Trish Fennelly’s legs. Two minutes later De Búrca turned from goalscorer to provider when she whipped in a cross from near the end line. Kara Mullins provided a distraction in the box, while Lynsey McKey fired home against her former teammates.
Galway continued to dominate for the remainder of the half and were able to hold out for their first victory of the season. O’Riordan was also able to hand Róisín Jacob her debut on 77 minutes and the 16-year-old did not look out of place, accounting well for herself in the step-up to senior football.
Galway will hope this victory can kick-start their season, starting on Sunday when they are back in WNL action and make the long trip to Ferrycarrig Park to take on Wexford Youths.
This will be a difficult challenge for the Galway women. Although Wexford went down to Raheny United in last weekend’s cup action, they pushed the league leaders all the way, only losing 3-2 after extra time.
Galway WFC: Tina Hughes, Shauna Fox (Keara Cormican 90 ), Aoife Walsh, Ruth Fahy, Marie Curtin, Lisa Casserly (Ashling Hughes 83 ), Meabh DeBurca, Megan Kelleher, Susie Cunningham (Roisin Jacob 77 ), Kara Mullins, Lynsey McKey Unused subs, Louise Creavan, Claudia Hudner, Sorcha Ni Bhraonain, Meadbh Coleman.
