Athlone Town Women’s Manager Tommy Hewitt believes if their goal in the second half had been awarded, Athlone would have gone on to win the tie as they performed better in the second half.
Hewitt and the Athlone Town faithful in Tallaght on Sunday evening were left enraged after the linesman rose the flag to signal that Scarlett heron’s header was offside, it looked close but a decision that left Athlone defeated.
Speaking to FinalWhistle.ie after the tie Hewitt believes his team performed well outside of those opening twenty minutes, he gave credit to a great Shelbourne side and was gracious in defeat but was left disappointed after the goal was ruled out, he feels it would have led them to cup final glory.
“I thought first half obviously having conceded a goal so early I thought we responded well and then to concede a second one, I suppose it was 20 minutes gone but I thought after that we were immense, especially the second half I thought definitely the better team in the second half goal disallowed and if that goal is not disallowed I think we go on and win the game that was the kinda impression I go but look it is what it is congratulations to Shelbourne, best team in the league they won the league and obviously the cup now so their the best team in the country but we’re getting there.”
The game as a contest was very much nip and tuck for the 90+ minutes in Tallaght Stadium, two set pieces that were not dealt with left Athlone chasing the game, Hewitt believes his team failed to create chances in that opening half but were a different animal once the second half kicked off.
“It kinda took us a while to settle as I said and you’re right it was close and you know Shelbourne one or two corners and we didn’t really create much in the first half, but definitely second half we were nobody can deny that we were definitely the better team in the second half.”
A major topic of discussion after the tie was indeed that goal being ruled out, Herron’s header almost blew the roof of the stadium as the travelling Athlone supporters made their voices count, those final twenty minutes were all Athlone in front of goal, Herron had came close but it was straight at Budden before the header.
Maddison Gibson caused issues too but again Budden was equal to it, she had a glorious chance soon after but that one went over the crossbar, Kellie Brennan also had a chance but again no joy. Hewitt was very confident that had they scored the goal the result would have been different at the final whistle.
“100% 100%, I have no doubt in my mind you know that goals given, this is how confident I am I even go and say we are going to win the game, look it is what it is it was beyond our control we can only control what we had in front of us and look bit disappointed but at the end of the day congratulations to Shelbourne.”
Athlone are slowly building a team that will change the establishment, they certainly gave Shels a tough time outside of the two goals on Sunday, they have claimed wins over top sides this year and next season could well challenge for the title again, their bond has been well documented as a group and Hewitt feels if they can keep a lot of the squad, they can go at it again next year.
“Absolutely Absolutely and you can see it there especially in the second half the bond the girls had, even at the end of the game the way they stayed together and you know next season hopefully we can keep the majority of the group together and push on from there.”
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Diarmuid Kearney
Diarmuid Kearney is a freelance Sports Journalist based in Co Kerry. He has more than 5 years experience covering domestic and international soccer for different media organisations, while also working for local and national print and digital organisations covering GAA.