Seaview seal super double
League title won in thriller
SEAVIEW UNITED FERNS UNITED
IF THERE was ever a match to showcase the entertainment which exists in the Wexford Women’s Soccer League, it was this one.
Let’s set the scene first - it’s the last game of the Premier Division season, and first in the table plays second with just one point separating the sides, so a win for either team will secure the trophy.
Seaview United have an advantage, and a point is all they require to win them the title.
Meanwhile, Ferns United have the benefit of playing at home, in a repeat of the Wexford Cup final from three weeks ago, in which Seaview triumphed by the only goal.
It was a match which ebbed and flowed. Without having the exact statistics to back it up, it’s safe to assume that both sides had well into the double figures worth of shots over the course of the game.
Knowing only a win would be good enough, Ferns understandably flew out of the starting blocks. In truth, they battered Seaview in the first-half and would certainly have left the pitch at the interval scratching their heads and wondering how on earth it was 1-1.
Leona Breen was at the heart of Ferns’ attacks in the first 45 in particular. She created the opener, finding Aoife Devereux unmarked in the box, and the winger confidently placed past Sally Kelly in goal.
Devereux had already hit the post prior to this and it looked almost certain that it would be only a matter of time before Ferns doubled their lead, that was until Lisa Dower’s shot from distance slipped through Gráinne McCabe’s hands and the home side were stopped in their tracks.
An injury-disrupted final 15 minutes followed at the end of the first-half, but once the game was re-started after half-time, it was back to full throttle.
Ferns appeared to be camped in Seaview’s half and Breen headed narrowly wide before drilling the post as they searched for a goal to regain the lead.
But it was Seaview, in perfect counter-attacking style, who proved to be more clinical. Just four minutes apart, in the 63rd and 67th minutes, they found the net twice and made the home side’s task almost insurmountable.
The first of the pair was courtesy of a sublime Eimear Mullan cross which Catherine Doyle sliced into the top corner past the advancing McCabe.
The netminder was beaten directly by Fiona Rowe’s cross for the second.
Joanne Barcoe combined with Devereux to pull one back just five minutes later but, in a game which became open and end-to-end, Ferns could not find an equaliser to really put their opponents on edge for the final minutes.
Seaview United held out to finish the season with an exceptional double, taking both the league and the cup at the expense of Ferns United.
Seaview United: Sally Kelly; Aisling Mullan, Sonja Murphy, Bríd Doyle, Stephanie Foley; Méabh Kehoe, Eimear Mullan, Lisa Dower, Kelly Molloy; Ali Staats, Catherine Doyle. Subs. - Fiona Rowe for A. Mullan (58), Jane Ryan for Staats (89), also Bríd Kehoe.
Ferns United: Gráinne McCabe; Sarah Figgis, Rachel Collier, Lauren Barcoe, Ali Evered; Mary Dwyer, Hayley Nolan, Aoife Devereux, Leona Breen, Joanne Barcoe; Liz Evered. Subs. - Eimear O’Leary for Collier (92), also Kerry Nolan.
Referee: John Carton.