The second round of games in the 2020 Women’s National League saw Athlone Town make their League debut, with Treaty United were on a bye as part of the nine-team structure.
Athlone Town 0-1 Wexford Youths
A home win on their League debut may have been denied by a second-half goal, but Athlone will take a huge amount of confidence from their performance.
Tommy Hewitt has built a squad that will rely on youth and the local trio of Kayleigh Shine, Kayla Brady and Katelyn Keogh – all of whom trained with the Republic of Ireland Women’s Under-19s last week – all impressed.
Wexford found it difficult to break down the League’s newcomers with Ellen Molloy, Kylie Murphy and Ciara Rossiter all going close with chances on goal.
The visitors got their goal on 72 minutes when Vanessa Ogbonna recorded her second assist of the season by crossing for Aisling Frawley to head in and make it back-to-back wins for Wexford.
Bohemians 1-4 Galway WFC
In what was their first home game in the League, Bohemians suffered an early set-back when goalkeeper Courtney Maguire was sent off on her debut.
The Gypsies managed to make to the interval by holding Galway, but the visitors broke the deadlock after 52 minutes when striker Aoife Thompson fired in from close range.
Bohemians hit back straight away with Bronagh Kane netting her first goal for the club. Galway responded by making a triple substitution and began to press higher up the pitch.
Shauna Fox headed them back in front before substitute Ellie Rose O’Flaherty nodded in a cross from Shauna Brennan and Thompson finished things off with her second of the game.
Cork City 0-3 Peamount United
League champions Peamount continued their excellent start to the new season with a second win, which brings their tally to eight goals scored, none conceded and six points collected.
Stephanie Roche got them going after just three minutes before she turned provider for team-mate Áine O’Gorman to extend their lead and then Eleanor Ryan-Doyle slotted in to make it 3-0 before half-time.
Cork played some nice football in patches but found it difficult to keep up with the pace & power of their opponents. The introduction of debutants Laura Shine and Leah Murphy indicates that they are building for the long-term.
The home team piled the pressure on in the last 15 minutes, in a period that saw Louise Masterson sent off for Peamount, but they could not find the goal that their effort deserved.
DLR Waves 1-2 Shelbourne
It was the fourth minute of added time when Shelbourne captain Pearl Slattery scored her second goal in as many games to guide her club to victory.
DLR, who made five changes to their starting line-up, felt deflated at the end of this contest as they thought that they had done enough to earn a second draw of the campaign, having held Galway WFC last week.
One of the players who came into the DLR team was goalkeeper Eve Badana and she had to be on high alert to deny both Alex Kavanagh and Jessica Ziu in the first half.
Just past the hour mark, Shels took the lead when Ciara Grant deftly lifted the ball over Badana. The hosts responded through a Niamh Prior free-kick and were holding on until Slattery’s late winner.
Fixtures for Wednesday, August 19th
Galway WFC v Athlone Town, Eamonn Deacy Park, KO 19:45
Peamount United v DLR Waves, PRL Park, KO 19:45
Shelbourne v Bohemians, Tolka Park, KO 19:45
Treaty United v Cork City, Markets Field, KO 19:45
