BY CONALL COLLIER
Two of the current form teams in the Women’s Premier Division (WPD) will go head-to-head on Saturday when Sligo Rovers make the shorter journey to the temporary home of Galway Utd at Moyne Villa FC in Headford for a crucial FAI Cup quarter-final tie with kick-off scheduled for 5pm.
This encounter will mark a 10th appearance in the Women’s FAI Cup for Sligo Rovers since entering the competition in 2022 – a journey that has already produced memorable moments, milestones and a growing Cup pedigree.
Sligo Rovers made it to the semi‑finals for the first time in 2023 where they were defeated by Athlone Town. The Bit O’Red repeated that achievement in 2024, reaching the last four and once again Athlone Town proved too strong.
For this weekend, Sligo Rovers can show a strong hand with a nine-game unbeaten WPD run plus a 2-1 away win in the FAI Cup against Waterford in the last round to make it 10 without defeat.
Despite the loss of super striker Sydney Stephens after the 1-0 victory against Wexford, Sligo Rovers tallied six goals in the last two outings, three per game, which demonstrates the strength-in-depth of the squad.
Emma Hansberry is a doubt for Saturday after she limped out of the action in the 40th minute against Bohemians last Saturday at Dalymount Park, but manager Gavin Hughes will be optimistic that his side can extend that unbeaten sequence.
“The last time we played Galway, it was the second game of the season and there has been a lot of football played since then,” he commented.
“We need more players chipping in with goals and with assists and in the last couple of games we have scored six goals.
“That’s very pleasing, especially after the departure of Sydney Stephens, the younger players are making the step up now and the girls we brought in have contributed to that and it’s a very competitive environment.
“We are in a rich vein of form and we can really look forward to a good game and the aim is to get to the semi-final,” he added.
The Galway women will be quietly confident of building on an impressive 11-game unbeaten WPD sequence as they bid for a place in the last four.
Galway accounted for the Bit O’Red at Eamonn Deacy Park last March, despite conceding early, they got back on terms from a 45th minute penalty and hit the winning goal from a spot kick in the second-half.
Add in the form that took Galway all the way to the All-Island Cup final, where they had to travel to Dublin to tackle Shelbourne at Tolka Park and were edged out narrowly in that contest.
They hosted Treaty Utd in the last round of the FAI Cup and emerged with a 1-0 victory with former Sligo Rovers player Emma Doherty finding the net after seven minutes.
Galway will be aiming to sign-off from their temporary home with another victory before a return to Eamonn Deacy Park at the end of August.
Surely, all the ingredients for what should be a fast-paced encounter.
The teams will meet again the following weekend at the Showgrounds in the Women’s Premier Division.