Women's Champions League: Super sub Saoirse Noonan hits treble in Celtic comeback

Republic of Ireland international Saoirse Noonan scored a hat-trick off the bench as Celtic came from behind to beat Finland's KuPS 3-1 after extra-time in Women's Champions League qualifying.

The Cork woman only came in on the 61st minute but quickly drew her side level and added two more in the first half of extra-time to settle the result in Lithuania.

It is the Glasgow side's second ever win in the Women's Champions League and they will now face qualifying tournament hosts Gintra or Romanian champions Anenii Noi for a spot in the play-off round.

It was a good day for the Irish as Peamount beat Dinamo-BGU FK of Belarus 2-1, also after extra-time, in Croatia to reach their Round 1 final.

Douglas native Noonan, who has won four caps for Ireland but missed out on World Cup selection, played for Cork City and Shelbourne before moving to Durham in England's second-tier, the FA Championship, for two seasons.

The 25-year-old forward was back training with Cork this summer before signing a three-year deal with the Celts, which she described as "a bit surreal for me, I was a Celtic fan growing up and all my family are Celtic fans".

Noonan has hit the ground running, scoring three times in the first five games of the Scottish Women's Premier League.

The Hoops won the league for the first time last year, Glasgow City having long been the dominant club Clydeside. Rangers won their first title in 2022.

Northern Irish Women's Premiership champions Glentoran were eliminated from the competition after a 3-2 defeat to Slovenia's ZNK Mura in Cyprus.

The Belfast side trailed 2-0 at half-time, after a Sara Makovec penalty and Yana Malakhova goal, before Noelle Vilcnik added a third for the Slovenians courtesy of another spot-kick on 56 minutes.

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