- Simon O'Gorman
- Sun, Jul 03 2022
Noelle Murray scored four times as Shelbourne put ten past an injury ravaged Treaty United at the Markets Field on Saturday evening.
Perhaps the Limerick side should have sensed it wouldn’t be their day when, right on the first whistle, the doleful bells of nearby St John’s cathedral began to toll.
Treaty had already taken to the field without centre back Alannah Mitchell who had dropped to the bench with a pre match injury. Captain Jesse Mendez stepped into the defensive breech, dropping into the back four and giving up her midfield slot to Lauren Keane, a sacrifice that the football Gods would not reward.
It didn’t take long for top-of-the-table Shelbourne to get underway. They went ahead after just four minutes when Jemma Quinn tapped in a rebound from Megan Smyth Lynch’s shot at goal. And five minutes later they doubled their lead when Leah Doyle drilled a shot past Trish Fennelly having picked up a loose ball 15 yards from goal.
Treaty then lost centre back Shannon Parbat to injury which necessitated a wholesale reshuffle. Alix Mendez moved to centre back alongside her sister, neither of whom were now playing in their natural roles, while young midfielder Amy Madden dropped to right full. Substitute Esra Kangal was at least playing in her preferred position but that wouldn’t last long.
Fifteen minutes later Kangal too left the field injured after almost ten minutes of treatment, and whatever remnants of Treaty’s pre-match strategy remained were now extinguished.
What followed could fairly be described as a deluge. Four minutes after Kangal’s departure Shelbourne struck for the 3rd time, Noelle Murray sending in a corner that Emma Deegan had the misfortune to deflect into her own goal. And two minutes after that Murray received a pass from Jemma Quinn, stepped inside her marker and slid in Shelbourne’s fourth.
The refuge of half-time seemed agonisingly close for the Treaty players but the visitors were in no mood to grant them that small mercy. Three minutes into an extended period of added time Smith Lynch went down in the box and Murray finished from the penalty spot.
And before the whistle released Treaty from a catastrophic first half captain Pearl Slattery, totally unmarked, headed in a sixth from close range.
Shelbourne made three changes at the break. Off came captain Pearl Slattery and goalkeeper Amanda Budden. Megan Smyth Lynch also made way. Combined with the chance to regroup at half-time, this gave Treaty some breathing space and they withstood further damage until the hour mark, when Shelbourne, somewhat inevitably, added their seventh goal.
It came from a move down the left and when the ball was played to Jemma Quinn, just inside the Treaty box, it popped up beautifully for the striker to hit a languid volley which looped over Fennelly and into the net.
Six minutes later Quinn completed her hat-trick, sweeping a long throw from Keeva Keenan in at the near post.
With twenty-five minutes to go the remains of the game offered an unusual spectacle. Shelbourne continued to dominate but without the urgency that most contests insist on. Meanwhile, the Treaty players showed admirable courage, continuing to battle despite all that had been inflicted on them.
Shelbourne added two more goals in the final minutes, both coming from the boot of Noelle Murray. The first was an impressive overhead kick from Keeva Keenan’s cross in the 85th minute, and her fourth of the evening, a tap in from another Keenan cross, arrived on the cusp of full-time.
Treaty United: Trish Fennelly; Alix Mendez, Jesse Mendez, Shannon Parbat (Esra Kangal 21 (Niamh O’Byrne 36), Emma Deegan; Amy Madden (Grace McInerney 84), Lauren Keane; Cara Griffin, Kelsey Wing, Aislinn Meaney; Shannon O’Donovan.
Subs Not Used: Michaela Mitchell (gk), Alannah Mitchell.
Booked: None.
Shelbourne: Amanda Budden (Amanda McQuillan 46); Jess Gargan, Pearl Slattery (Taylor White 46), Shauna Fox, Leah Doyle; Keeva Keenan, Aoife Kelly, Rachel Graham, Megan Smyth Lynch (Lia O’Leary 46); Jemma Quinn, Noelle Murray.
Subs Not Used: Jessie Stapleton, Alex Kavanagh, Kate O’Dowd, Abbie Larkin.
Booked: None.
Extratime Player of the Match: Noelle Murray (Shelbourne)
