*Moher Celtic captain, Blathnaid Reynolds. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
MOHER CELTIC put their title as CDSL Ladies Cup champions on the line this weekend when they face off with Tulla Utd in the Cup final.
Heading into the Clare ladies soccer cup final on Saturday (kick off 4pm. at Frank Healy park) Blaithnaid Reynolds captain of title holders Moher Celtic acknowledges that while her side will be ranked as favourites, they are expecting a really stiff test from Tulla United.
Last season in their first fielding a side, Moher Celtic won the Ladies Cup final with Aoife Fitzpatrick scoring the winning goal from a free-kick as they defeated Hermitage FC 2-1.
Saturday’s finalists have met twice in the league this season with the North Clare outfit who are managed by Davy Commane and Cohan Phillipson winning on both occasions.
The latest meeting of Moher and Tulla was just last weekend when Moher won 2-1. “Both sides were missing players on Sunday, neither prepared to give anything away ahead of the cup decider,” she said, a view shared by Tulla captain Emma Deegan.
Moher draw their players “mainly from the local area of Liscannor, Lahinch and Ennistymon and there is a big overlap with Liscannor ladies football team,” she explained.
Almost all of last year’s title winning squad are still available to the side that beat Ennis Dons 4-0 in the semi-final.
The first meeting of the cup finalists in the league was, according to the Moher captain “our best performance of the season. We won that one 3-1”.
“One of the new players in the team this year is Natia Nakvetauri from Georgia. She is living locally and has been an excellent addition to the team. She has a lot of experience of playing the game”, Blathnaid noted.
Team member Sharon Carney will celebrate her 18th birthday this weekend. “All involved with the team would love to win the title to start off the celebrations for her,” the captain side.
Another key member of the side is Emily McDonagh the team’s goalkeeper.
“Tulla United are a long established club and a very good side. As cup holders and having beaten them in the league may see us carry the favourites tag but we know that we will face a very strong challenge on Saturday”, the Moher Celtic captain concluded.
