WYW v Shelbourne LFC

Wexford Youths are hoping to do a commentary on tonight's important league match here.

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Another enthralling encounter between the two cup-final teams and this time it'll be Shelbourne LFC who will be puzzled how they didn't come away with the three points in an action-packed game at Ferrycarrig tonight. WYW are beginning to show the effects of the absence of various players and went on the night with Tamara, Nicola, Edel, Ruth, Ciara, Ashling, Linda, Kylie, Emma and with Lauren and Claire up front. Right from the start, it was Shelbourne who showed the greater intensity in terms of winning the ball and getting the foot in. The game was added to by having as its referee "quick-draw" Sean Grant who is always anxious to produce a card or two on every possibility.

WYW had a decent chance in the first minute when Claire O'Riordan almost managed to put Ashling Frawley through on goal. But otherwise, it was Shelbourne who shaded the half with Leanne Kiernan and Siobhan Killeen very impressive going forward. The first goal came to Shels on 11 minutes when Killeen got the ball wide on the left wing and her cross just trickled over the line with Nicola Sinnott and Tamara Furlong possibly impeding each other in trying to clear. WYW had a number of deflected shots in the remainder of this half but all were easy for Reid Burke in the Shels goal. Sean Grant produced a yellow apiece to Kiernan for kicking the ball away and to Pearl Slattery of Shels for a tackle on WYW's Emma Hansberry. Shels then went further ahead on 43 minutes when Noelle Murray got a flick to a Shels free-kick to deflect the ball past Tamara Furlong and 0-2 to the away side.

WYW looked in trouble at this stage but managed to claw a goal back just before the break when the excellent Edel Kennedy got a shot on target and the ball broke again to her and she needed no invitation the second time for 2-1 to Shelbourne at half-time. Shels kept up the pressure in the second half and restored their two goal advantage when Kiernan took advantage of WYW's inability to clear their defensive lines for 3-1. However, Claire O'Riordan's ability to chase lost causes produced dividends five minutes later when she latched onto a bad pass-back by Shels to leave Reid Bourke stranded and 2-3. WYW's Nicola Sinnott then got a yellow for a tackle and Tamara Furlong had to stretch to push a Shels free-kick onto the crossbar to keep WYW in the game.

With 15 minutes to go, Reid Bourke dropped a corner under pressure at her near post and the ball was kept alive by WYW where it eventually fell to Claire O'Riordan at the far post who hooked it home for 3-3. Claire then got a yellow for apparently knocking the ball away, and was quickly followed into the book by Siobhan Killeen for a tackle. With a minute to go, Claire went into a tackle and was penalised and appeared to applaud the referee for his decision. A second yellow was the result and it left WYW down to ten players but the home side managed to hold out comfortably enough for the point after a very entertaining and hard-fought 3-3 draw. Best for WYW were the indomitable Claire O'Riordan who almost single-handedly carried the WYW threat up front and Edel Kennedy who matched the Shelbourne work-rate in the middle of the pitch while Ciara Rossiter posed the usual go-forward threat from left-back. Shelbourne worked hard all over the pitch, showed a great deal of desire, and were a credit to their manager, Casey McQuillan. 3-3 at full-time. Good also to see Amy Walsh back for WYW after a very long lay-off due to injury.