And the players of Shelbourne delivered that with ruthlessness on the biggest day of the domestic season in women’s football, shattering the world of Athlone Town with a stunning demolition of the league champions.
Denying the midlands club a double, they brought a smile to the faces of their red-clad supporters in Tallaght Stadium – using the howling wind as an asset, not a hindrance.
For some, it was personal. Shels forward Kate Mooney, scorer of two of their six goals, was devastated to be left out of the Shels squad for the 2016 final, so she had a drive behind her for the 2024 episode.
“I was only 17 at the time and I got told I wasn’t in the squad, I was actually heartbroken,”said Mooney, who rejoined the Reds in the summer after spells with DLR Waves, Peamount United and English side Lewes.
“I got told 10 minutes before. So to come back how many years later and to win it, to score in it, it just shows my resilience and my hard work. I just worked hard to get to this one.
“Credit to all the girls, we just came out fighting. We had revenge on our minds, the girls were just so hurt from last year and I was so glad I could come in and help them out, to make it our year.”
For others who are longer into their careers and longer of tooth, there was also an urge to bring home a trophy and stop their opponents from landing that double, with another revenge mission in mind to make up for a Shels defeat – at the hands of Athlone – in last season’s Women’s FAI Cup final.
“Last year it didn’t go our way, it was Athlone’s year but I felt it in my bones all week,” said veteran Pearl Slattery. “I think with the season we’ve had we were exceptional. We were unlucky to lose out on the league title, fair enough, some years it’s just a different club’s year. Even the route to the final that we had was tough, Galway away, [Shamrock] Rovers away, so I don’t think anyone can deny it.
“Whether Athlone are the strong team, people will mention all they want. We were motivated, for the end of the season we wanted silverware, we deserved it. We were very unlucky last year. It could have gone either way, it was their year. But this year was ours – in a million years that cup was not going back to Athlone.”
For all the preparation done by both managers and their assistants in the lead-up to the game, nothing could prepare the players for the conditions and that howling wind. But it was also unprecedented in how the game unfolded, Shels 2-0 ahead after only 14 minutes and 6-0 up, before Brenda Tabe netted with the only response from Athlone – all this before half-time.
What makes it even more bizarre is that it was Athlone who won the coin toss, little advantage in the end. “When I walked out on the pitch I was thinking, ‘Oh no’, as we like to play football, but you have to get it out of your head,” Slattery said of that gale-force wind.
“Madie Gibson [Athlone captain] won the toss, we wanted to play that way and you think, ‘Oh Jaysus, the sun and the wind’ but you have to deal with the situation, and we knew in the second half we’d eventually have the wind.”
There was a similar dazed reaction for the champions at half-time as they wondered how it had gone so wrong so quickly.
“It was probably all your fears come together at once in the first half,” said Athlone boss Ciarán Kilduff.
“I was well aware of the fact that nine of our starting XI were 22 or under and they had nobody under 22.
“I knew that they had experience, they had maturity. But to concede early, and to concede again that you realise that you maybe don’t have that hardened experience to be resilient for a while.
“It was getting ugly for a while, they don’t teach you on the ‘A’ licence what to say when you’re 6-0 down in an FAI Cup final and then 6-1 down at half-time.”
