All-Island Cup Preview: Glentoran -v- Shamrock Rovers

GLENTORAN

Rianna Jarrett’s goal for Wexford Youths seven minutes from time away to Peamount United on Saturday means Glentoran must beat Shamrock Rovers on Sunday afternoon (kick off 2.30pm) if they are to make the semi-finals of the Avenir Sports All-Island Cup.

Only the group winners advance to the semi-finals and Youths 2-1 win against the Peas in Dublin leaves them in the driving seat for qualification out of Group B.

This which will concentrate Glentoran minds as they seek a win that would steer them through.

For Shamrock Rovers Sunday’s game in the Blanchflower Stadium in Belfast is now a dead rubber as the Hoops who can’t progress even if they win.

The Glens are ten games into their league campaign and are undefeated with nine wins leaving them top of the table in the Women’s Premiership.

They are six points clear of Cliftonville and their most recent win came earlier this week with 3-2 victory away to Linfield.

They began their All-Island Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw at home against Youths, taking the lead through a Michaela Lawrence OG before Ciara Rossiter’s equaliser.

Their 5-0 away win over current League of Ireland leaders Peamount United last weekend was an eye catching result with goals from Caragh Hamilton (2), Joely Andrews, Emily Wilson and an OG from Dearbhaile Beirne blitzing the Peas.

That victory leaves them on the cusp of joining Galway United, Cliftonville and Cork City in the semi-finals if they can beat the Hoops.

The draw for the semis will be made at 6pm on Sunday.

SHAMROCK ROVERS

After suffering a 5-3 loss in Wexford last weekend, coupled with Youths win against Peamount United on Saturday, it means the Hoops travel up the M1 for what will be their final game of the All-Island Cup with only pride at stake.

Their next match won’t be till the end of next month with the Women’s FAI Cup when the League of Ireland clubs return to action after the lengthy World Cup break with the Ireland squad down under including Shamrock Rovers duo Abbie Larkin and skipper Áine O’Gorman.

With Rovers in their first season back in the League for Ireland since 2014, they have had to assemble a brand new squad – albeit with a number of talented players promoted from their underage setup that joined the national leagues in 2020.

Collie O’Neill has used this competition to bring in some of the players who have had limited game time in the league so far and to assess where his squad currently are positioned.

“All the players we have in our squad, we need to give them a fair amount of game time, just to see where they’re at,” said O’Neill when he spoke to shamrockrovers.ie this weekend.

“It allows us as a club to assess what areas we need to maybe bring in extra players and make improvements, what areas we need to work on, to make not just the team stronger but the squad as a whole stronger.

"Although, like last weekend (in the 5-3 defeat to Wexford Youths), you suffer some pain along the way, there are some positives out of it because it helps us get a better picture of where we need to grow and where we need to develop in a couple of months.

“It was a little bit short on our normal standard (against Wexford) but I suppose when you’re making so many changes, it is a little difficult for the players to be fully up the speed. A lot of the players coming in didn’t really have much game time over the course of the season."

Last weekend’s game saw the return of Stephanie Zambra to the Rovers team from injury for her first appearance since March.

“Steph has put in an extreme amount of hard work over the last couple of weeks to get back onto the pitch. It’s one of those things that people only see what she does when she’s on the pitch. But some of the work that she’s been doing in training has been outstanding.

"She’s really pushed herself to the absolute limit to try and get back onto the pitch. It’s nice to see her get that reward of a goal and I expect many more from her in the coming weeks."

The Hoops played Glentoran ahead of the start of the Hoops’ league campaign.

“They are a very, very good side and a good footballing side. A lot of their strength is that they will punish you if you make the slightest mistake, and we found that in pre-season.

“They will really capitalise on any kind of fault that you have, particularly across the back four. So, we’re going to have to try and learn from the mistakes that we made last weekend and make sure that we were not making the same this week, because we’ll be punished twice as much with the good attacking lineup that they have.

Referee: Louise Thompson

MATCH STATS

Glentoran WFC have won a record nine Women’s Premiership titles – with their last win coming in 2021 and they won their tenth IFA Women’s Challenge Cup last year.

The Glens have scored a remarkable 60 goals in 10 league games this season.

The Hoops sit third in the League of Ireland level on points with Shelbourne but six behind Peamount United who defeated Rovers 1-0 in Tallaght in their most recent league game. In 13 matches, the Hoops have scored 28 goals.

PREDICTION

1-1

Glentoran

Injured: n/a

Doubtful: n/a

Suspended: None

Shamrock Rovers

Injured: Maria Reynolds

Unavailable: Áine O’Gorman, Abbie Larkin (on Ireland World Cup duty)

Doubtful: Shauna Fox back in contention

Suspended: None

Shelbourne draw Glasgow CIty FC in Champions League https://t.co/AauCcFJJbWpic.twitter.com/8PNenFIxVx

— Extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) July 1, 2023