Women's FAI Cup preview: Big two primed for final again

The 2024 Sports Direct Women's FAI Cup has a familiar looking semi-final line-up, with three of last season's final four having arrived at the penultimate stage once again.

For the second season running, Athlone Town will travel to The Showgrounds for a semi-final meeting with Sligo Rovers, while Shelbourne will host Cork City at Tolka Park for a place in the 20 October showpiece.

Sligo Rovers and Cork City will be hopeful of claiming unlikely results but a quick glance at the SSE Airtricity Women's Premier Division table points to another Athlone Town v Shelbourne showdown at Tallaght Stadium.

The two clubs met in the finals of 2022 and 2023, with Shels completing a league and cup double on the first occasion, before Athlone got their revenge via a penalty shootout success the following year.

Nearly 12 months later and this rivalry rumbles on, with both clubs now eyeing up a double, as Athlone sit top of the league table, two points ahead of Shels and Galway United, who have both played a game more than Ciarán Kilduff's charges.

Last year's cup win served as springboard for Athlone's success this campaign and standing in their way of a place in a third successive final are Sligo Rovers, who have played 17 league games this season without winning any of them.

It was just last month that Athlone put five past Sligo, although this was helped by the Bit O'Red going down to 10 players after just 60 seconds, when goalkeeper Bonnie McKiernan was sent off.

Suffice to say, Sligo are better than the four points they have accumulated throughout their league campaign, and they put in a strong display as recently as last weekend when a late Keri Loughrey goal rescued a point in a 1-1 draw away at Shamrock Rovers.

"Athlone will rightly be