Corbet bags treble as Athlone Town show Whitehall no mercy

Athlone Town AFC’s senior women’s team brought their fine league form into the first round of the Evoke.ie Women’s FAI Cup when they dispatched non-league Whitehall Rangers Ladies by seven goals to nil on Sunday.

Athlone, like all of the Women’s National League sides facing non-league opposition in last weekend’s cup ties, were without question the superior outfit.

The north Dublin side, who play their football in the Dublin Women’s Soccer League, gave it their best shot.

They worked hard and were determined to make life as hard as possible for the highly fancied visitors. Unfortunately, from their perspective, however, they struggled all over the park as the game progressed.

From kick-off to the final whistle Athlone’s work rate and intensity on what was an extremely warm day was relentless.

And slowly but surely, Athlone’s players ground down their opposition. They created a plethora of chances in both halves and, in truth, the seven-goal winning margin could have been greater.

As ever goal machine Emily Corbet was the focal point of Athlone’s attack, and once again the Laois native did not disappoint.

She was well supported by Roisin Molloy and Madison Gibson, whose attacking prowess, and hard running from wide positions gave the home side some serious headaches.

Athlone were also impressive in the middle of the park. Scarlett Herron, in particular, bossed that area of the park with style and aplomb, while producing a player of the match performance.

At the back Fiona Owens and team captain Jessica Hennessy were ice cool in the warm conditions, and consistently kept the home side’s attack at bay.

Athlone’s keeper Niamh Coombes had little to deal with over the 90 plus minutes of play.

After a cagey opening few minutes at Whitehall Rangers’ home ground, Paddy Mahony Park, Athlone gradually set about asserting their dominance.

After a few near misses, Emily Corbet tapped in to open the scoring midway through the opening period.

Not resting on their laurels, the visitors quickly looked to double their lead. Athlone were denied following two good attacking moves - firstly by the crossbar, and a few minutes later by a good save by the home side’s keeper Grace McAuley-Ryan.

But Athlone were not to be denied for long, and their pressure paid off when they were awarded a penalty after Corbet was blatantly hauled back in the penalty box when she was clear through on goal. Surprisingly, no red card was produced by the referee.

It mattered little overall, though, as Corbet coolly added to her impressive goal tally from the spot to put Athlone in pole position.

The tie was effectively ended as a contest shortly before the break, when a shot from the hard-working Roisin Molloy beat the home side’s keeper.

Whitehall’s players felt that an Athlone player had strayed offside in the build-up to the goal; however the assistant referee’s flag stayed down on this occasion.

Despite being 3-0 ahea, Athlone kept the pressure up following the restart, and never gave their opponents any room to try and mount an unlikely comeback.

Gillian Keenan, who had a fine game in general, increased Athlone’s lead ten minutes after the restart.

Five minutes later, Emily Corbet claimed a deserved hat-trick with another close-range strike, before being substituted.

As the game meandered to its closing stages, Athlone continued to press and created a succession of scoring chances.

Roisin Molloy doubled her personal tally for the day with a well taken second goal.

Athlone wrapped up the scoring when substitute Kayleigh Shine rifled home seconds before the final whistle.

Given their recent form in the Women’s National League, Athlone can look forward to the next round of the Cup with confidence - a quarter-final clash against Cork City - although no doubt they will also be made well aware by team manager Tommy Hewitt and his coaching staff that tougher tests lie ahead.

Athlone Town’s next WNL game is away to Sligo next Saturday (kick-off 2pm).

Athlone Town: Niamh Coombes; Fiona Owens, Jessica Hennessy (captain), Melissa O’Kane; Gillian Keenan, Kelsey Munroe, Kellie Brennan, Scarlett Herron, Roisin Molloy; Emily Corbet, Madison Gibson. Substitutes: Kayleigh Shine, Evie Kelly, Antea Guvo, Sophie Liston, Cayla Fletcher.

Whitehall Rangers: Grace McAuley-Ryan; Aisling Dunbar, Emma Boyle, Jean Daly, Tara Berrigan; Sinead O’Kelly, Deborah Burnett, Rachel McLoughlin, Rebecca Creagh; Charlie Graham (captain), Helen Cooney. Substitutes: Ann Marie Keegan, Natasha Graham, Niamh O’Doherty, Rosario Doyle, Jennifer Kett, Alysson McGrath.