![\"18](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0024dca1-614.jpg\"\/)
\nHalle Harcourt of Shelbourne heads at goal<\/p>\n
Shelbourne held their nerve in a tense and thrilling end-to-end encounter at home to go level on points with Athlone Town at the top, with two games extra played.<\/p>\n
Bella Flocchini’s first half penalty proved enough to overcome an impressive Wexford in a bruising war of attrition.<\/p>\n
Both sides came into the massive clash off the back of huge wins three days previously but showed no signs of fatigue and after a full-blooded start from both sides, the hosts broke the deadlock after just 11 minutes.<\/p>\n
Leah Doyle\u2019s inswinging corner caused mayhem in the Wexford box, and amidst the chaos Lauren Walsh was adjudged to have hauled down Aoife Kelly at the near post.<\/p>\n
Wexford captain, Ciara Rossiter, followed in the footsteps of League legends Pearl Slattery and Rachel Graham in making her 250th appearances for her club and ensured her team didn\u2019t let the heads drop from the early concession.<\/p>\n
Just 10-minutes later the visitors were scratching their heads following a dangerous set-piece of their own. Emma Bucci showed great movement to get around the back and power a header off the underside of the bar. With the ball miraculously staying out, an almighty goalmouth scramble erupted with the ball eventually being cleared.<\/p>\n
\nHalle Harcourt of Shelbourne heads at goal<\/p>\n
The visitors, searching for their first win over The Reds in their last eight knew a win would not only upset the apple cart in Drumcondra, but also see them leapfrog Sligo Rovers into fifth continued to press for an equaliser. Top scorer Courtney Chochol was next to flash a shot just wide of the far post.<\/p>\n
But their title chasing hosts were still riding the crest of a wave having grabbed a dramatic last minute winner over rivals Bohemians held firm and went agonizingly close to doubling their lead on a couple of occasions just before the break.<\/p>\n
Following a gilt edged miss from teen sensation Halle Harcourt – who rifled a shot just over with just the keeper to beat – Katie McCarn then cut inside from the left and whipped a shot that missed the top corner of her former side by a matter of inches.<\/p>\n
Minutes after the restart McCarn went one closer, cutting in yet again on to her favoured right foot, but reversed a low shot that rattled the foot of the post.<\/p>\n
Speaking of desperate to hurt their former side, Megan Smyth-Lynch had a couple of long distance sighters as she tried desperately to draw her side level.<\/p>\n
![\"18](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0024dca2-614.jpg\"\/)
\nRachel Graham was a 70yh-minute substitute for Shelbourne<\/p>\n
Sensing an equaliser in the air, Dave Connell called for reinforcements, one of which included 15-year-old starlet Mia Whelen who, on her debut, became the youngest ever player in either Men\u2019s or Women\u2019s to score in the LOI at the weekend with an 85th minute penalty and was hoping to conjure up some more of that magic with a quarter of an hour remaining,<\/p>\n
The tension in Tolka could be cut with a knife as the game continued at a relentless pace. Maria O\u2019Sullivan had to be on her toes to tip Leah Doyle\u2019s cross onto the cross bar and with just a couple of minutes remaining created a golden opportunity to rescue a point.<\/p>\n
Leah McGrath found herself free following a free-flowing counter attack and having been tee\u2019d up by Smyth-Lynch, flashed her shot just wide of the near post.<\/p>\n
But the home side showed all their experience to see out the game and ensure the three points remained in Dublin and pile the pressure on last season’s double winners, Athlone Town.<\/p>\n
Shelbourne: Mia Sanchez; Maggie Pierce, Pearl Slattery, Nia Hannon, Leah Doyle; Aoife Kelly, Alex Kavanagh (Rachel Graham, 70\u2019). Isabella Flocchini; Olivia Damico, Katie McCarn (Maeve Wollmer, 54\u2019), Halle Harcourt (Brianna Severns, 70\u2019)<\/p>\n
Wexford: Maria O\u2019Sullivan; Lauren Walsh (Aisling Roche, 87\u2019), Lauren Dwyer, Anna Carson, Ciara Rossiter (Mia Whelan, 73\u2019); Devon Olive (Freya de Mange, 81\u2019), Leah McGrath (Molly Kirwan, 86\u2019), Emma Bucci, Christie Gray (Kayla Goncalves, 73\u2019); Megan Smyth-Lynch, Courtney Chochol<\/p>\n
Referee: Robert Dowling<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shelbourne held their nerve in a tense and thrilling end-to-end encounter at home to go level on points…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-597703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}