Marvellous as they were in reaching the last four of the most prestigious competition in ladies football little Sion Swifts from Division Three were forced to scale a mountain too high in tackling new Premiership champs and cup holders Glentoran. Linfield, too, knew it was unlikely that they would overcome the Crues despite their bold effort to do so.
And so the most talented and powerful two sides in the Davison’s Frudles NIWFA League are set to renew their rivalry in a third successive final with the promise of another fully committed duel in store.
Glentoran’s meeting with the blossoming Swifts, who claimed their division title in runaway fashion, was a case of the teachers versus the pupils. A 6-1 drubbing by the teachers illuminated the gulf in the school of master class.
The more muscular, skilled and highly experienced Glens revelled on an atrocious evening at Dungannon’s Stangmore Park, as the ghastly weather and heavy conditions sapped the energy and ebullience of an apprehensive but spirited Tyrone team that has to be commended for its achievement in reaching the semi-finals stage.
There was no shame in their departure. They wore their dark blue shirts with pride; outclassed they may have been, but there was defiance during an evening of more learning, which will stand them in good stead as they move up the ranks. Credit, too, to Lauren Brennan, their top scorer who, against the odds, kissed the tournament goodbye with another splendid goal.
They came up against a high calibre team, backboned by Northern Ireland internationals and skilfully managed by Cheryl Lamont and her staff; merciless and ungenerous when they are fully engrossed in their work as Sion discovered.
Jessica Doran’s hat-trick accompanied by goals from Claire Rea, Ashley Hutton and Demi Vance, signalled Glentoran’s entry into the showpiece to defend their crown where the Strikers will be waiting. Before that however they will take on Mid Ulster in the Premiership Cup at Solitude on Monday 26, hoping to make this one a stepping stone on the way to the treble.
Roy Cathcart, chairman of the Coca Cola Women’s Cup, presented the Player of the Match award to Glentoran’s Ashley Hutton.
Whilst Glentoran were slaying the Swifts, Crusaders were singing in the rain at a sodden Solitude with a 3-1 win over Linfield. The Strikers, whose summer was enhanced by a trip to Croatia for UEFA Cup qualifying games where they served Northern Ireland’s football well, bypassed an anxious first half, generating the brand of football that has established them as a club of distinction.
Linfield knew, as all teams do, that they needed to be at their peak and pick up some threads of fortune if they were beat one of the two top sides in the League and create the Cup’s major upset. Neil Morrow’s Blues did provide an unpretentious but daring challenge, especially in a scoreless first half where they traded equal blows, but even the injection of hope by their resolute early performance still fell short of the ability to outmaneuvre a Crues side that always had the edge if not the goals. To the Strikers’ delight this was put right by Debbie McCarthy whose belated strike broke Linfield hearts.
It turned spitefully against Linfield when Claire Carson grabbed a second whilst Blues Northern Ireland international Kirsty McGuinness was receiving treatment following an injury. McCarthy added a third to bring the contest to its expected conclusion. Linfield had a belated moment of consolation when Amber Dempster snapped up a brilliant goal to close the gap to 3-1.
The final line-up though, as firmly predicted, pits the ‘Big Two’ together for another clash that, even with Glentoran’s seemingly invincible aura, will see unafraid Crusaders compete with optimism and expectation; they do possess the ability to destroy Glentoran’s bid for a treble-trophy wipe-out although they will have to go some to beat the team that took away their League crown and whose property the Cup has become over the past five years. The scene is set to provide an evening of rousing entertainment.
Report – Sammy Martin
Photos — Sportnpics
