Latest news with #ShaunaBrennan
Irish Daily Mirror
02-08-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Athlone Town v ZNT Agram: Where to watch free stream of Champions League clash
Shauna Brennan says Athlone Town are relishing the opportunity to crank it up a level against Croatia's league winners ZNK Agram. The midlanders, currently table-toppers as they defend their first Women's Premier Division title, easily dismissed the challenge of Cardiff City in their Champions League first qualifying round tie last Wednesday. The visitors will be a class - or two - above the Welsh visitors but Brennan insists there is no fear in the Athlone camp as they seek the win that will progress the club to round two and a meeting with Icelandic champions Breiðablik. "This is where we want to be," declared the defender. "We want to play in Europe, we want to test ourselves against the best sides. This is what we play for. "Hopefully, we can get the job done and progress and see how we can get on in the later stages but of course, it's one game at a time. This Croatian side is what we're focusing on now and that's what all our energy will go into. "We've done our homework but it's hard to tell really with teams that are outside of our own league and we can't see them playing against anybody in our own league," she said. "But it'll definitely be a different challenge on Saturday and we're expecting that. We know that we've only half the job done. Wednesday means nothing without Saturday, so that's our focus." Where is the game taking place? The first warm-up game is at Lissywollen Stadium, Athlone. What time is kick-off? The game kicks off this afternoon at 4pm. Where can I watch it? The match isn't being shown live on terrestrial TV but it can be streamed for free (registrations required) on LOI TV. Decision Brennan faced a tough decision ahead of last season when she opted out of the Galway football panel to focus on playing for Athlone and her medical studies in NUIG. The choice paid off as she was involved in an historic season for the club and the team has continued where it left off, despite the loss of Ciaran Kilduff as manager just hours after the FAI Cup final defeat to Shelbourne. "And now to be playing European football this year, if you had told me that three years ago, I would have told you you were lying," smiled Brennan. "Ciarán we all got along with very well. Colin (Fortune) is in now to take his place and we've really just gotten on so well and taken it week by week, doing our bit on and off the pitch. We really have just stuck together through it." Brennan and her colleagues played in front of a sold-out home crowd for the first time in the 4-0 defeat of Cardiff and she is hoping for the same again today. "It was great to see the support from everybody in Athlone to actually sell out the stadium," the 21-year-old said. "We were hoping it would be a sell out, but obviously that depends on the fans and it was great to see them all come out in their blue and black. "I think it helped us in the first 10 minutes. We hit the ground running and the crowd really got behind us to do that, they definitely did help us to get up for the game and be ready. "Everybody seemed to have such an energy. I think that probably came from the crowd and the occasion. We all wanted it and I think you could see that. We came out of the blocks very fast and thankfully we got a few goals to get us in at half-time. "I'm sure it will be the same again, we'll be hoping to start quickly and get at them and impose our game on them rather than worrying about them. "We know they're going to be a new challenge. They're going to be a good side. They've won the Croatian League but we'll look at their key players and we'll be ready for whatever comes at us." Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email .
Irish Independent
01-08-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
‘We've only half the job done' – Athlone's Shauna Brennan targets Champions League progression with tough four-day turnaround
A reward for Wednesday's 4-0 trouncing of Welsh side Cardiff City was another qualifier, also at home, against a more experienced Agram from Croatia, where the winners of that one-legged tie will move into the semi-final stage of the qualification rounds, where likes of Roma and Sparta Prague are already through with a bye. Athlone's players were all making their Champions League debuts against Cardiff and they are keen to extend their European season as far as possible. "It'll definitely be a different challenge on Saturday and we're expecting that. We know that we've only half the job done. Wednesday means nothing without Saturday so that's our focus,' says Athlone's Galway-born Shauna Brennan. "We know they're going to be a new challenge, they're going to be a good side. They've won the Croatian League but we'll look at their key players and we'll be ready for whatever comes at us.' Town's home ground was packed for the Cardiff game and another sell-out is expected for the visit of the Croatians as Brennan says that – despite the gloss of that 4-0 scoreline – the crowd did play a role. 'We haven't had a crowd like that before. It was a record crowd so it was great to see the support from everybody in Athlone to actually sell out the stadium. We were hoping it would be a sell out but obviously that depends on the fans and it was great to see them all come out and they're in blue and black,' she says. "I think it helped us in the first 10 minutes. We hit the ground running and I think the crowd really got behind us to do that and it helped us to win them tackles, the cheers from the crowd. They definitely did help us to get up for the game and be ready.' With a debate within the game overall about recovery and a mandated rest period between games, it's a big ask for the Athlone players – many of whom are part-time – to turn around and play two Champions League ties in four days. "It's tough,' says Brennan, who parked her Gaelic football career with Galway to focus on soccer with Athlone. 'We do have a lot of players that are full-time in Athlone but then there's the likes of myself and some of the other girls that are working or in college. "We stayed up on Wednesday night to get our recovery in and we'll do a light session on Friday night, a walkthrough probably and we'll be ready to go.'
The 42
03-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Defending champions Athlone put three goals past Galway as Sligo Rovers stun Peamount
Results – Women's Premier Division DLR Waves 1-4 Shamrock Rovers Sligo Rovers 1-0 Peamount United Treaty United 1-3 Shelbourne Cork City 0-2 Bohemians Wexford Youths 2-0 Waterford Galway United 0-3 Athlone Town DEFENDING CHAMPIONS ATHLONE Town put three goals past Galway United this evening to continue their unbeaten start to the season in the women's Premier Division. Athlone Town are now back at the summit of the table after Shelbourne temporarily went top after defeating Treaty United. Galway's unbeaten run is over but they still remain in third place with a game in hand. Isabel Ryan, Madison Gibson and Shauna Brennan were all on target as Athlone Town came away from their trip to Eamonn Deacy Park with all three points. Ryan grabbed the lead after just five minutes, getting on the end of a cross from Katie Sullivan at the back post and finishing from close range. Gibson doubled their lead in the 19th minute before Brennan wrapped up the win with just 38 minutes on the clock. Advertisement Her effort from outside the box initially came back off the crossbar and the referee ruled that the ball had crossed the line after taking a touch off Galway goalkeeper Jayne Merren. Well… did this Shauna Brennan strike cross the line? 😳 The referee thinks so, and @AthloneTownAFC are 3-0 up in Galway! — LOI Women (@LoiWomen) May 3, 2025 Earlier, Sligo Rovers stunned Peamount United with a hard-earned and well-deserved 1-0 win at the Showgrounds. Anna McDaniel's 19th-minute goal was the difference as the Bit O'Red enjoyed a memorable victory over the 2023 champions. Shelbourne stormed to a 3-1 win over Treaty United at Markets Field, a quick-fire double from the in-form Mackenzie Anthony seeing them home. Rebecca Cooke broke the deadlock for Shels in the 40th minute, before Ciara Breslin levelled matters early in the second-half. But goals from American forward Anthony in the 76th and 79th minutes secured the win for the North Dublin outfit, as Republic of Ireland assistant head coach Alan Mahon was an interested spectator. Shamrock Rovers made it two wins over DLR Waves in weeks after a 4-1 victory at the UCD Bowl. The Hoops won last weekend's All-Island Cup opener 6-0, and again eased to glory in the league. Emily Corbet scored a brilliant brace, while Scarlett Herron and Joy Ralph were also on the scoresheet for Rovers, who led 2-0 at half time. Aisling Meehan scored for the hosts to make it 2-1 just before the hour-mark, but Ralph responded immediately and Corbet wrapped up another three points. Elsewhere, goals from Della Doherty and Millie Daly secured victory for Wexford in their home tie against Waterford. And Bohemians also won on the road, beating Cork City 2-0 at Turner's Cross. Goals in either half from Roisin McGovern and Lisa Murphy did the damage for Bohs.
