Shelbourne occupy top spot in the Women’s Premier Division after they sailed past basement side Sligo Rovers at the Showgrounds.
Goals from Leah Doyle and Jemma Quinn, added to Kate Mooney’s first-half brace, saw the Dubliners take all three points without much fuss in the northwest.
The victory takes Shels a point above fellow league-chasing hopefuls Athlone Town and Galway United, although both their rivals have the advantage of more games to play.
Without several first-team regulars and yet to win a league game this year, the mood in the Sligo camp can’t have been helped by a strong start from the visitors.
Murray should have got the Shels party under way within seven minutes but got her co-ordinates all wrong when she nodded a Christie Gray cross wide of Bonnie McKiernan’s goal. But Mooney didn’t need to be asked twice as she fired the Dubliners into the lead 90 seconds later.
Murray was the provider for Mooney, who was left with a relatively simple finish from close range.
Sitting 10 points adrift at the foot of the table, Rovers did start the season with an encouraging scoreless draw away to Shels but have since fallen off, gathering just two more points with draws against Bohs and Treaty.
There were a few promising moments for the hosts in the opening period. Katie Melly and skipper Eimear Lafferty both worked Shelbourne goalkeeper Amanda McQuillan, while Jess Casey and Rachel McGoldrick both broke the defensive line without success before the break.
But the Drumcondra outfit’s sheer attacking superiority shone through again 11 minutes from the break when Mooney added her second.
The ex-Peamount forward finished off a sweeping move which involved input from both Doyle and Murray.
Shels had a third three minutes later. The influential Murray was denied by a brave stop from McKiernan, but the determined Sligo stopper couldn’t get back on her line in time to stop Doyle’s effort from crossing the line.
Sligo introduced steel and experience to midfield as the FAI Cup-winning duo of Emma Hansberry and Muireann Devaney came on at the break.
But it was an error from fellow midfielder Lafferty which handed Shels the chance for their fourth.
McKiernan emerged the winner, however, in the one-on-one against Mooney after Laffery’s heavy touch saw Sligo lose possession inside their own half.
Tommy Hewitt’s women looked more defensively assured in the second half but that Shels threat never dissipated.
A bemused Murray hit the crossbar twice in quick succession. The first from out wide, while the second was a wickedly struck volley which clipped the top of the frame of the Rovers goal as the 2022 league champions looked to add gloss to the scoreline.
Eoin Wearen’s side had their fourth on 86 minutes and again the Sligo goal frame was involved. Megan Smyth-Lynch’s thunderous set-piece crashed off McKiernan’s crossbar out as far as Quinn, who was left with an easy close range finish.
Tonight’s other encounter in the division saw Galway United inflict a 5-2 defeat on Cork City at Turner’s Cross.
Rola Olusola and Julie-Ann Russell had the visitors 2-0 up inside five minutes, with Emily Kavanagh compounding Cork’s misery in the 19th minute.
Eva Mangan, who has been linked with a move to Liverpool, saw her cross befuddle Jessica Berlin and sail into the Galway net in the 33rd minute, while the Cork response received another shot in the arm with Barrett Eidson’s goal just before the interval.
However, Russell completed her brace in the 59th minute and Isabella Beletic scored Galway’s fifth on the night as third-placed Galway ensured the gap to league leaders Shelbourne remained at three points.
Sligo Rovers: Bonnie McKiernan; Cara King, Kelsie Munroe (Lesley Ann Sweeney 75), Kate Nugent, Alice Lillie; Eimear Lafferty (Lauren Devaney 75), Jessica Casey (Muireann Devaney HT), Leah Kelly (Roise Burke 61); Rachel McGoldrick (Emma Hansberry HT), Kerri Loughrey; Katie Melly (Paula McGrory 61).
Shelbourne: Amanda McQuillan; Rachel Graham (Lucy O’Rourke 60), Pearl Slattery (Megan Smyth-Lynch 60), Maggie Pierce (Hannah Healy 67), Keeva Keena (Aoife Sheridan 83); Roma McLaughlin; Christie Gray (Nia Hannon 60), Leah Doyle, Jessica Gargan; Kate Mooney (Jemma Quinn 67), Noelle Murray.
Referee: David Dunne
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