CORINTHIANS women completed a memorable league and cup treble when they defeated fierce rivals Douglas Royal in the final of the MBL FA Cup at the Bowl on Wednesday evening.
Having already secured the Division One league title and the Floodlit Cup, Corinthians were ruthless in front of goal as they put their Ballafletcher neighbours to the sword thanks to goals from Kiera Morgan (2), Amy Speed and a sublime 35-yard effort from Sarah O’Reilly.
Such was the rivalry between the two sides that Royal ended the game with just nine players and Corinthians with 10 after a couple of unsavoury incidents.
The league champions got into their stride quicker than their opponents and raced into an 11th minute lead thanks to a predatory strike from the in-form Morgan. A swift move down the right wing forced Royal to concede a corner and, from O’Reilly’s pin-point cross, Morgan rose highest to nod past goalkeeper Kerri Williams.
And they very nearly doubled their advantage three minutes later when Helen Thomas’s free-kick reached Alsivane McGreggor in a crowded area but her glancing header crashed back off the crossbar and was cleared to safety.
Then came the game’s main talking when both sides were reduced to 10 players. Royal winger Bekki Cole reacted angrily to a strong but seemingly fair tackle by her opposite number Stephanie Hall, kicking out at her opponent who in turn pushed her, resulting in referee Alan Cowin giving both players their marching orders.
Royal responded positive to the red cards and winger Becci Pate went close twice soon after when one curling effort was well held by Corinthians shot-stopper Rose Ogda before seeing a fierce strike parried wide.
Donna Shimmin and Pate then linked up well down the left before the latter crossed to Sarah Breen but her effort was deflected and comfortably saved.
At the other end of the pitch Megan Loughran began do have some joy down the left as Royal played a dangerously high line but the scored remained the same at half-time.
Minutes after the restart, however, Royal should have been level but for a remarkable miss. A low cross caused chaos inside the Corinthians’ area, presenting Shimmin with a shooting chance. Her shot was well blocked by Ozga but the rebound fell to the lurking Pate and, with the keeper stranded, looked destined to slot the ball into the unguarded net.
However, somehow O’Reilly managed to put Pate under enough pressure to force the otherwise impressive winger into firing over the bar from point-blank range.
They were almost made to pay soon after when the marauding Jenna McStay was sent tumbling inside the box by Royal skipper Hicklin but play was waved on.
But it mattered not as, just four minutes later, Corinthians scored the all-important second goal to double their lead.
Having dropped to the bench after feeling unwell, Amy Speed entered the fray and the substitute certainly felt no ill-effects as she raced onto a high throughball by McStay and managed to escape Hicklin before slotting past Williams with ease.
As the game opened up, Royal responded well again with Breen trying her luck from distance before Pate’s deep cross went all the way through to Katie Halsall at the back post but she shot weakly straight at Ozga.
A long clearance by O’Reilly then sent Morgan racing through on the left wing into the area as Corinthians looked to put the game beyond reach but her shot was tipped wide by Williams.
However, Morgan - who netted a hat-trick in the semi-finals against Peel - was not to be denied a second. Thomas lifted a neat ball forward for Speed to chase down the right and, after holding the ball up for a seconds, the sub played the ball inside to the charging Morgan who drilled a low effort which beat Williams at her near post to put the contest to bed.
O’Reilly decided to get in on the act and embarked on a brilliant, mazy run through the heart of the Royal defence but her left-foot piledriver was saved impressively by Williams.
But O’Reilly was not to be denied for long and, three minutes later, then popped up to score arguably the goal of the game.
After Speed had been fouled in the Royal half, up-stepped O’Reilly who curled the free-kick over Williams into the top left corner from all of 35 yards out to put the icing on the cake.
Matters got even worse for Royal in injury-time when Hicklin was given her marching orders following a late lunge on Groves but it made little difference to the outcome of the match as Corinthians comfortably saw out the remainder of the game before the celebrations got underway after the final whistle.
TEAM CHECK
Corinthians: Rose Ozga, Shannon Groves, Jenna McStay, Sarah O’Reilly, Shelley Simpson, Alsivane McGreggor (Amy Speed 58m), Stephanie Hall, Leanne Prescott, Megan Loughran, Helen Thomas (c), Kiera Morgan
Douglas Royal: Kerri Williams, Andrea Lace, Sam Jordan, Bekki Cole, Kym Hicklin (c), Donna Shimmin, Sarah Breen, Becci Pate, Sam King, Siobhan Lockwood, Katie Halsall
Referee: Alan Cowin
Assistants: Glenn Weir and Anthony Quayle
Sent off: Stephanie Hall (Corinthians), Bekki Cole and Kym Hicklin (Douglas Royal)
Player of the Match: Shannon Groves (Corinthians) - full of running and endeavour throughout as Royal struggled to contain her
Match rating: HHHII