Slattery - Move to Shelbourne Ladies has been breath of fresh air

The start of the 2015-16 Women’s National league is less than four weeks away and one player who has fond memories of the league is Shelbourne Ladies FC defender Pearl Slattery.

The former Raheny United player who missed the inaugural season of the WNL campaign in 2011, due to College commitments in America spoke to Extratime.ie about her time in the Black and White of Raheny, while also given us her thoughts on moving to Shelbourne Ladies FC.

After returning home from America in 2012, having spent three years abroad. The defender re-joined the Pandas having played for the club before crossing the pond for College commitments and after working extremely hard to obtain a place in the WNL squad Slattery saw the rewards instantly. In her first season as the club would go on to lift two trophies.

“My first season in the league was unbelievable,” she said. “Winning both the league and FAI Cup was amazing. I had lost an FAI Cup semi-final and final in previous years, so personally I thought I'd never win one. So to win my first with Raheny in the Aviva live on television was something else and something I will never forget. “

In her second season, Pearl would again help the Pandas to retain both the Women’s National League title and FAI Cup however, 2014-15 would see the North Dublin side surrender their league crown after finishing third and ending an unbeaten league run of 46 league games between November 3rd 2012 and February 22nd 2015.

“Losing the league last year was very hard to take obviously, we all felt very disappointed losing the league. As I've said before Wexford were deserved winners. We have moved on we're over it now. We are working very hard in pre season to push on and hopefully go get the league back. We had to lose [A match] at some stage and now the pressure is not on us anymore, which I think will be to our advantage for the new season.”

In the second half of last season Pearl was forced to watch on from the sidelines in some of the big games after she let her emotions get the better of her in a defeat to UCD Waves and the defender explains that it’s something that won’t happen again.

“The sending off was very disappointing for me personally. I shouldn't be getting sent off the way I did as a senior player, it's not good enough. It's easy to say that now, but when you're in a big game and big decisions go against you. Emotions can get the better of you, especially bad decisions that cost us the game. It's still not acceptable and it won't happen again, that's for sure. Watching from the sidelines was painful no other way to explain it, it's one of the toughest things to do”

Despite losing the league title, the Panda’s finished the season by adding their first League Cup crown to go alongside the FAI Cup, a title they retained for a third consecutive season, Slattery revealed that was a great experience and her side were just delighted to come away with a victory.

“The cup final was a great game for the women's game [In Ireland], another exciting final for people to watch can only be a good thing. As a player obviously I'd of liking to win it more comfortably. Peamount were brilliant on the day and I don't think it was our best game but I was delighted at the end though when we got to win our first league cup.”

After a Late Jamie Finn goal in the 95th minute sent the Cup Final into Extra-time and Pearl explains it was great to see the crowd’s reaction to Finn’s late goal.

“When Jamie scored the whole place went crazy it was a brilliant feeling to see the crowd go mental just like we were on the pitch. Just shows as a team we never give up till the final whistle has blown.”

With the game, destined for penalties, Katie McCabe popped up with another late finish and the defender explains it's not the first time the Irish International has saved her side, but she revealed she was also ready to take a penalty kick if required.

“Katie saved us a lot last season so it was made for her to go score the winner. My nerves were fine actually I would have taken a penalty if called upon. Luckily we didn't need that thanks to Katie's great finish.”

When it was announced that Raheny would merge with local rivals Shelbourne, Pearl was disappointed to see the name ‘Raheny United’ gone, but after speaking with the management she was in no doubt the move was the best for all parties.

“At first I was a bit upset just the fact we were losing our name. But when we had a team meeting it all became clear why it was happening and the plans for the future. Now I think it's a brilliant move for both clubs. Honestly the Shels girls have been a breath of fresh air, their such a talented group of girls and some of them are still very young, it's scary.

“There's a great buzz around training it's great for us ex Raheny players because we feel like we have to push on and lead by example for them. We all expect great things from each other which can only be a good thing for everyone involved.”