Shels break Athlone hearts to complete the double

Shelbourne completed the double as they eased past a gutsy Athlone Town 2-0 at Tallaght Stadium to lift the EVOKE.ie FAI Women's Cup on Sunday afternoon.

Eight days after clinching the league title ahead of Athlone, Shels inflicted more heartache on the midlanders as first-half goals from Jessie Stapleton and Pearl Slattery settled the contest.

Athlone never threw in the towel, carving out a number of chances in the second half, but Noel King's team had too much nous and experience to relinquish their advantage, taking the glory in front of just over 5,000 fans - a record attendance for a women’s cup final.

Shelbourne could now become just the second team, after Cork City in 2017, to do the men's and women's FAI Cup double if Damien's Duff's charges can defeat Derry City at the Aviva Stadium next weekend.

The heavens opened just before kick-off, greasing up the surface and making for a topsy-turvy start.

Shels could have broken the deadlock with only 25 seconds on the clock when Keeva Keenan caught a dropping ball sweetly on the edge of the box, but keeper Niamh Coombes got her angles right to make a decent save.

At the other end Slattery misjudged a ball over the top, allowing Emily Corbet to race towards goal. She just lacked the pace to get away from a posse of recovering defenders, but the attacks - and counter-attacks - kept coming.

Six minutes in, Shelbourne took the lead.

Alex Kavanagh curled a free-kick from the left into the box. Coombes - who looked nailed on to claim it - failed to keep a hold of the slippy ball, which bounced off the back of Stapleton and dropped into the net.

It was a desperately soft goal, with Athlone's appeals for a free out correctly waved away by referee Sean Grant. The midlanders however