Athlone edge Peamount United to achieve FAI Cup semi-final spot
In a tense opening, played at a frightening pace it was the hosts, whose performances of late haven't reflected their results, that started confidently.
Irish under-19 international Jess Fitzgerald was influential in the middle of the park, beginning a number of intricate moves to keep her team high up by playing the early exchanges in the opposition half.
Having weathered the early pressure the visitors, who have had the glamorous distraction of two historic Champions League wins recently, began to grow into the game as their fantastic front three got more involved.
Although the Town have been overtaken by Shelbourne at the top of the league, they showed why they are Champions coming from behind at the in-form team in the country in Bohemians to rescue a draw at Dalymount Park but the point came at a cost losing the influential Izzy Groves in the middle of the park.
But to counter the busy workload having bolstered the squad in recent weeks with Katharina "Kat" Oelschlaeger and Alexis Stickland with the latter establishing herself in the starting 11 with some impressive displays in the engine room as her side went close to opening the scoring when O'Connor saw her back post header narrowly miss the near post.
There was a big scare for the home side when the impressive Eleanor Ryan-Doyle went down midway through the first half with an innocuous looking ankle injury but after some lengthy treatment, was ok to resume.
With a war of attrition developing it was going to take something special to break the deadlock, and just after a half hour O'Connor went one better than her miss minutes previous, hitting a stunning right footed effort from 25-yards out that flew in off the underside of the bar.
Goal | Aoife O'Connor puts Athlone Town in front against Peamount United 👏 pic.twitter.com/0wzhF7acnJ
— FAIreland (@FAIreland) August 16, 2025
Immediately after taking the lead, skipper Madie Gibson went agonisingly close to doubling her lead smashing a left footed volley across goal narrowly missing the foot of the post.
On the stroke of half-time the American was brilliantly denied by Amanda Budden, in almost a carbon copy of her previous effort, but the former Shels and Shamrock Rovers stopper got down sharply to tip around the post.
Following a slightly extended half time break, which saw the Champions receive a ticking off by the officials, both teams were back going hell for leather once again.
Just a couple of minutes after the restart Athlone Town thought they had doubled their lead when Gibson's vicious in-swinging corner was touched onto the back post by an under-pressure Budden before being bundled over the line but referee John Sconnie Walsh saw an infringement in the crowd of bodies.
The hosts raised the intensity once again, pressing high and forcing their opponents into turning the ball over, leading to an animated Colin Fortune screaming at his team to try get back to passing the ball and take the sting out of the game.
Having been restricted to shots from distance, a frustration grew in the home side at where that one clear opportunity to level might come from as Natalie McNally and Shauna Brennan looked imperious at the back.
And with a quarter of an hour remaining The Peas did manage to force a couple of corners to build up a head of steam to earn their clearest chance of the half.
From yet another quality Fitzgerald delivery, substitute Rebecca Watkins was aggressive winning her header but just couldn't guide the ball on target.
With just five minutes remaining Fitzgerald hit a rocket of a free kick from all of thirty yards that looked destined for the roof of the net but at the final moment was acrobatically tipped over by Maria Matthaiou leaving the Peamount bench with their heads in their hands and a feeling that it wouldn't be their day.
And with the last kick of the game, Mattaiou proved the hero once again standing big to deny Watkins who had raced clear on goal but at the crucial moment shot straight at the Cypriot keeper.
The visitors held strong to book their place in the semi-final and keep the dream of a double this season alive and must dust themselves down as they look forward to hosting title rivals Shelbourne in a mouth-watering clash next Saturday night whilst the Peas travel to Dalymount on Tuesday night looking to put this disappointment behind them.
Peamount: Amanda Budden; Lauryn O'Callaghan, Abbie Tuthill, Mary Phillips, Dearbhaile Beirne; Karen Duggan, Jess Fitzgerald; Ellen Dolan, Sadhbh Doyle, Aisling Spillane (Sorcha Melia, 86'); Eleanor Ryan-Doyle (Rebecca Watkins, 46')
Athlone Town: Maria Matthaiou; Kellie Brennan, Kayleigh Shine, Natalie McNally, Shauna Brennan: Aoife O'Connor (Kate Slevin, 67'), Sarah Rice; Roisin Molloy, Alexis Strickland, Madison Gibson; Kelly Brady
Referee: John Sconnie Walsh
Elsewhere, Tr eaty United secured their semi-final spot in a dominant 2-0 win over DLR Waves at the UCD Bowl.
Second-half goals from Madelyn Robbins and Bella Flocchini ensured the Shannonsiders progress to the final four of the FAI up for just the second time.
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Second-half goals from Madelyn Robbins and Bella Flocchini ensured the Shannonsiders progress to the final four of the FAI up for just the second time.
