It was a tough night for Shamrock Rovers last night in Hungary but in Slovenia, it was a different story for Shelbourne FC in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
They claimed a 1-0 victory over ZNK Pomurje in their opening game of the 2022-23 UEFA Women’s Champions League, which sees them progress to the Final of the Champions Path.
This is the second tier of possible entry to the lucrative Group stages and Shels will now face Valur FC, the Icelandic Champions on Sunday in a game that kicks off at 5:30 PM.
Victory there would see them as one of 11 teams to enter into the second phase of qualification, which will take place at the end of September. Three more teams join at this point and the seven winners will get to play in the group stage alongside the likes of Barcelona, Lyon and Chelsea.
It was an electric start to the game against the hosts of this first-round mini tournament Pomurje.
Within just two minutes, the SSE Airtricity Women’s National League champions were awarded a penalty. However, Noelle Murray’s spot-kick was saved by goalkeeper Iva Kocijan.
Shelbourne didn’t even have a moment to fret about that miss though as Heather O’Reilly popped up two minutes later to loop a headed effort into the back of the net for her first goal for the club.
The 37-year-old Olympic and World Cup Champion with the USA came out of retirement to fulfil a dream of playing in the Champions League and she is now potentially just two steps away from realising that to the highest level.
It is also a great boost for Sport for Business member TU Dublin who are the sponsors of the Women’s team.
