The drive for five
MANULLA Ladies can round off an already remarkable season when they play Boyne Rovers from Drogheda in the final of the Women's FAI Intermediate Shield at the grounds of Mullingar Athletic at 2 p.m. on Sunday (September 27).
Having won four titles this season already, the Manulla drive for five is very much on.
They retained the Mayo Women's League title for the third year in a row and, having won the Mayo Cup for the first time in 2014, they retained that trophy in 2015, defeating Ballina Town in the final in Milebush Park.
The first trophy won this season was the Connaught Women's Cup when they also defeated Ballina Town in the final in Belleek Park. The fourth title collected was the Mary Walsh Cup as Manulla again got the better of Ballina Town in the decider in Ballinrobe.
Getting to this final has been a hard slog for the Manulla girs. They were drawn away to Illies Celtic of the Inishowen League in round one of the WFAI Intermediate Cup and suffered their only defeat of the season after a four-hour journey to the northern end of Donegal. That meant they entered the shield competition, which is new for this season following the WFAI's scrapping of the junior cup.
Manulla's first game in the shield was away to Bonagee United from Letterkenny, from where the Mayo side emerged with a 3-0 win, all the goals coming in the second half.
It was another road trip for Manulla in the next round, this time to Kildare Town, and after taking an early lead, the visitors were pegged back before going on to take total control, leading 5-1 at half time and winning 6-1 in the end.
Manulla finally got a home tie in the semi-final after three away games in the FAI competitions and four in the Connaught Cup. Carrick United from Waterford were Manulla's opponents in the shield semi-final but the home side proved too strong, winning by four goals to nil.
The panel of players has been well tested this season, with the team picking up a number of injuries. Team captain Aoife Freyne missed six weeks with an ankle problem, while Marie Bones has been troubled with an Achilles tendon injury for the last two months. Anna Lawlor and Olivia Barrett will both miss the final with knee concerns, although Tracey Hall expects to be fit having missed the last six weeks with a foot injury.
Having led the team to four trophies already, manager Joe King is looking forward to adding a national title. He said: “We were in the WFAI Junior Cup final in 2012, where we were beaten 3-2 by St. Joseph's Girls from Dublin, and really want to set the record straight as we felt we left that one after us.
“We had some serious games against Ballina Town over the last month or thereabouts and I hope those tough games will stand to us.
“We have a fantastic squad of players who have put a lot of work in during the year and have reaped the rewards for their efforts. We have one final hurdle to jump and I have every faith in this group of players to bring this one home.”