Champions League debutants Athlone Town slay Cardiff City
ATHLONE TOWN 4 (Izzy Groves 15, Róisín Molloy 40, 43, Hannah Waesch 49)
CARDIFF CITY 0
Wales got the better of Ireland for a Euros spot but there was a sinew of revenge on the club front by Athlone Town dumping Cardiff City out of the Champions League.
This was the first time in 42 years for Athlone Town to sample the European stage – the first time for the women's team – and they made their mark with an emphatic first-half blitz to slay the Welsh dragons.
Athlone's women's team has always carried a transatlantic influence, with four in the starting team from USA and Canada, but Róisín Molloy from Gurteen in Sligo was the star that shone brightest.
A marauding presence from the right flank, she teed up captain Izzy Groves to fire home a 15th minute breakthrough before swelling the lead with a brace within three minutes approaching the break.
Hannah Waesch slotted in from close-range within four minutes of the restart to complete the rout, allowing manager Colin Fortune to rest players with Saturday's second round tie against Croatian side ZNK Agram in mind.
Shannon Evans of Cardiff City tries to keep a shot from Roisin Molloy from crossing the line. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Former Ireland manager Vera Pauw criticised Uefa for recalibrating Uefa's sole women's competition in favour of the larger powerbrokers, suppressing any slim prospect of an outlier emerging from the shadows to cause a shock.
Restructuring changed the old 16-team group stage that kicked off the competition into an 18-club league phase. That entails three rounds of qualifying – beginning with this Celtic derby in the first round of the Champions Path.
It means a quick turnaround for Athlone but at least to do again have home advantage. That worked a treat on this occasion, for the sold-out sign was raised four hours before kick-off, leading to queues around a Lissywollen Stadium that struggles to attract 400 for the men's team.
As it transpired, an historic number of 1,916 was declared for a crowd that did include Ireland assistant manager Alan Mahon.
At 23, Molloy is someone the international management could be minded to consider with the Uefa Nations League playoff against Belgium approaching in October.
ATHLONE TOWN: M Plaschko; K Brennan (I Ryan 85), S Brennan, N McNally, K Shine; H Waesch, I Groves (K Slevin 70); R Molloy (A Murphy 82), S Rice, M Gibson; K Brady (H Donegan 70).
CARDIFF CITY: C Chamberlain: L Owen, F Price, H Evans, N Jenkins; F Barry, K Walklett, L Billingham, M Cook; H Evans, L Curnock.
Referee: Karoline Marie Jensen (NOR)
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