Noelle Murray hails 'fire in the belly' after another FAI Cup triumph

Noelle Murray had been involved 10 Sports Direct FAI Cup finals before Sunday's showdown with Athlone Town, but success still tasted as sweet as ever for the Shelbourne stalwart.

She bagged a brace in a 6-1 destruction of the freshly crowned league champions on a day when everything clicked spectacularly for the Reds.

That made it seven triumphs and four defeats in 11 cup final appearances for 34-year-old Murray, one of the major personalities in a string Shelbourne dressing-room.

"It's my 11th. This my seventh winner's medal and I've lost four," she said as her teammates danced in celebration on the Tallaght Stadium pitch.

"We've some really young players on our team - half of my age. The way we all come together as a team I think we all gel well.

"Coming into the game today we were well prepared for it. We knew they were going to be set up well and tough to break down but I think we came out and done our game.

"We were absolutely amazing in the first half. We slightly dropped off in the second half but I'm so happy with everybody and so happy with the performance."

Nobody saw this coming: an affair so one-sided that it was done and dusted by the half-hour mark, when Shels were three goals to the good.

Athlone were slight favourites before kick-off as they looked to complete a double, but the late loss of captain Laurie Ryan to an injury seemed to rattle Ciuaran Kilduff's side, and they just never got going.

"I think we had a bit more fire in our belly, I think we wanted it a bit more," added Murray.

"Obviously it was a bit upsetting the last couple of weeks seeing them clinch the league title, but look, we couldn't be happier with the squad, the whole club itself. It's not only a day for the players. We always say this, the club