Roisin Molloy shines with two goals and an assist as Athlone Town make dream start to Champions League vs Cardiff City
For Town supporters raised on stories of
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Athlone Town hammered Cardiff City in the Champions League
Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
2
Roisin Molloy scored two goals and assisted another
Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Former
Sligo
inter-county footballer Róisín Molloy scored two and set up one as Izzy Groves and Hannah Waesch also netted in a dream first-night rout of
Cardiff
City.
Fortune's team will now play ZNK Agram of
Croatia
on Saturday, again at the Athlone Town Stadium, in their first qualifying round final.
Despite playing at home, Fortune could scarcely have dreamt of having such a comfortable evening just five years into the Town women's team's existence.
Groves and Waesch dominated midfield, with a Cardiff team with plenty of recent European experience repeatedly
running
into trouble as they tried to play out from the back.
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Athlone wingers Molloy and Madison Gibson fired in crosses at will and the sight of Cardiff keeper Ceryn Chamberlain spilling the first three whetted the appetite of the 2,000 fans who turned out.
Chamberlain was soon picking the ball out of her net.
In the 14th minute, Molloy danced past Ffion Price before squaring the ball to Groves, with the Jamaican international showing perfect composure to float it over the stopper into the far corner.
With Cardiff struggling to get up the field and come up with anything close to testing home keeper Megan Plaschko, Kelly Brady saw a
succession
of Athlone chances come and go as they looked to press home their dominance.
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Their failure to do so coming up to the 40th minute might have been concerning but a quick brace from Molloy put paid to any such worries.
With five minutes to go until half-time, she forced the ball over the line when Cardiff failed to clear American winger Gibson's low delivery.
Forgotten Liverpool star who was hero of 2005 Champions League campaign now starring in world of professional FOOTGOLF
Three minutes later, she buried a header at the far post, Gibson again the creator.
It was 4-0 just four minutes into the second half when Natalie McNally's header came back off the post and Waesch duly picked her spot.
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From then thoughts turned to Saturday's date with ZNK.
SUN
STAR
PLAYER
Róisín Molloy (Athlone Town)
ATHLONE TOWN
: Plaschko 7; K Brennan 6, Shine 8, McNally 8, S Brennan 7 (Murphy O'Connor 79, 5); Waesch 9; Molloy 9 (Ryan 79. 5), Rice 6, Groves 7 (Slevin 69, 6), Gibson 7 (Mooney 74, 6); Brady 6 (Donegan 69, 6).
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CARDIFF CITY
: Chamberlain 5; Owen 5 (Long 57, 6), Jenkins 6, Evans 8, Price 5 (Perrott 69, 6); Walklett 7, Evans 7 (Daly 79, 5); Cook 6, Billingham 8, Barry 5 (Olden 57, 5); Curnock 6 (Bowen 79, 5).
REFEREE
: KM Jensen (Nor).
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