Limerick girls re-unite at Raheny United

Ahead of playing in the first leg of their Champions League campaign with Raheny United of Dublin on Thursday, ExtaTime.ie spoke to both Catherine Cronin and Danielle Sheehy of Limerick.

Catherine joined Raheny in 2011 when she moved to the capital to study nursing at UCD. Since making the move Catherine has played in the Bus Eireann Women’s National League since it was first established. During this time Catherine has experienced the highs and the lows with the team including their most recent success of winning two consecutive league titles in a row and qualifying for this season's UEFA Champions League round of 32.

Catherine was recently reunited with a former teammate Danielle Sheehy. The girls grew up together playing for Aisling Annacotty in Limerick City since under age but both followed different paths in football. Danielle moved abroad to pursue a scholarship in the United States in 2012 where she played for Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. During her time in the States, Danielle won a number of awards and was scouted to play Semi Professional in the Women’s Professional League (WPS) for the Gulf Coast Texans of Florida. After playing in the summer league with the Gulf Coast Texans, Danielle flew to Iceland to play professionally in the winter for Afturelding before returning home.

Speaking to the two girls ahead of Thursday’s clash with Bristol Academy at Richmond Park, they had the following to say about being reunited on the pitch again.

"It's great to be back playing with Danielle again! She has gelled well with the girls since she came in and nothing seems to have changed...maybe a bit of an American accent at times" Catherine smirked jokingly. Danielle stated "I never expected to be back on the same field as Kaka (Catherine), especially not playing in the Champions League! I'm so excited and  I love this team they are such a great group of girls and have been so nice to me. I felt like I fit in straight away."

Raheny's most recent result was in the FAI Senior Cup Semi Final versus Wexford Youths on Saturday. The Panda's won 3 - 2 after extra time on the night, thanks to Captain Rebecca Creagh's goal. Both girls stated they do a "lot of hard training and work together" to get through the tough games. They both spoke highly of back room staff and manager Casey Mc Quillan stating he makes "sure we have fun while working hard and taking things seriously"

Catherine spoke about how important the weekends result was going into the game on Thursday and how they were "looking forward to build on what was a successful Champions League group phase ".

You can follow all the UEFA Champions League build up and match day action here on ExtraTime.ie including live match updates. Tickets for the game are available on the night at the gate with admission at Adults €5 and Kids/Students €2 with Kick Off at 7:30pm.