Late penalty heartbreak in top of the table clash

Shelbourne 1-1 Athlone Town

Second-place Athlone made the trip to Dublin to take on the league leaders Shelbourne, in what was a tight affair at Tolka Park on Saturday in the SSE Airtricity Women's National League.

The first half saw the home side fairly dominant in possession, but they found it difficult to execute any well-worked chances. The Reds might be disappointed with some passages of play, as Athlone’s first chance came from a defensive error, a great save was the result from Amanda Budden to deny Emily Corbet. To credit the Athlone side, hard work was put in to stop any clear-cut chances arising for the hosts, and Jessica Hennessy was a rock at the back for them.

Shelbourne thought they had first goal of the game soon after, with Noelle Murray’s strike hitting both posts before it was cleared from the box. Both sides had chances to go ahead before the break, but it was 0-0 heading into half-time.

It was the perfect start for Athlone Town in the second half. Only four minutes into play, a long ball found Corbet and she hit a fantastic strike over Budden in the Shels goal, her 13th goal of the season.

Afterwards, Athlone seemed happy to sit back and charge on the counter attack when they got the chance, with the hosts still struggling to find the final pass. It wasn’t until the 93rd minute when Aoife Kelly took on the shot from range and the ball hit Jessica Hennessy’s arm in the box. A penalty was given to The Reds and Noelle Murray calmly hit it home to get the equaliser.

A point for both sides was the outcome of this one, with Athlone happy to take a point off the champions, but no doubt feeling robbed of the win.