A Laois soccer player was part of history last night as Athlone Town claimed their first ever Women’s FAI Cup crown.
Emo’s Gillian Keenan scored a wonderful goal in the second half of extra time to send the final against Shelbourne to penalties.
That made it 2-2 and after that, Athlone held their nerve in the shoot out to win 4-3.
Keenan began her career at her native Emo Celtic and then moved on to have spells with Peamount United and Treaty United.
She signed for Athlone Town in 2022 and was part of the side that reached the final of this competition last year.
Shelbourne beat them 2-0 on that occasion but it was a very different story here.
Speaking to the Irish Independent after the game, Keenan described how the goal came about.
She said: “It came nicely to me and I was able to control and hit it. I was praying for the best.
“You kind of have to keep calm in those moments when we were behind.
“There’s always a way back and we showed it there. I feel like we’re a team that finishes strong and if we kept working, we’d get the equaliser.”
Keenan collected her winners medal afterwards alongside fellow Laois native Mary Phillips who hails from Portlaoise and is also a member of the squad.
You can check out Gillian’s stunning strike below:
