Shelbourne won the Sports Direct Women's FAI Cup for the third time in their history by beating Athlone Town 6-1 in Tallaght Stadium.

A first-half blitz from The Reds saw them seize control with goals from Kate Mooney (2), Noelle Murray (2), Jess Gargan and Leah Doyle before Brenda Tabe pulled one back for Athlone.

This was the third straight year that the two teams faced off in this showpiece event with one win apiece going into this encounter. But after Mooney opened the scoring on seven minutes it never looked like anything but a victory for the Dublin club.

Athlone were hoping to become double champions having won the SSE Airtricity Women's Premier Division but their hard graft wasn't enough to turn this game back around once Shels hit top gear.

In front of a crowd of 3,118, Eoin Wearen's side dominated with their fast start as Mooney nicked in ahead of goalkeeper Katie Keane to get things going before Murray converted a penalty and Gargan volleyed in from close range - all inside the opening half hour.

Sports Direct Player of the Match Murray was the stand-out performer as she pulled the strings in attack and got her second goal just before the interval after Mooney had also scored again. Doyle wrapped it up with Shelbourne's sixth.

This was a cruel way for Athlone to lose but Head Coach Ciarán Kilduff knows that their overall season is one to remember and this day belonged to Shelbourne.

This win elevates Shelbourne to joint fourth in the competition's history alongside Benfica, Raheny United and UCD. 


Athlone Town: Katie Keane; Ciara O'Neill (Emily Burke 46), Kayleigh Shine, Jesi Rossman, Shauna Brennan; Roisin Molloy (Isabel Ryan 83), Kate Slevin (Taylor Anderson 89); Hazel Donegan (Maeve Wollmer 83), Kellie Brennan, Madison Gibson; Brenda Tabe.

Shelbourne: Amanda McQuillan; Jess Gargan, Pearl Slattery, Keeva Keenan; Christie Gray (Hannah Healy 71), Maggie Pierce, Alex Kavanagh (Rachel Graham 71), Roma McLaughlin (Rebecca Devereux 85), Leah Doyle; Noelle Murray (Jemma Quinn 79); Kate Mooney (Megan Smyth-Lynch 79).

Referee: Daniel Murphy.