Kelly delighted to win back-to-back All-Island Cups

Aoife Kelly clinched back to back All-Island Cups on the weekend before last as Shelbourne beat Galway 2-0 at Tolka Park. Kelly started in the heart of the midfield.

“It feels really, really nice,” Kelly said afterwards. 

“It was a good game against Galway and, yeah, I really enjoyed it and it's a really nice feeling," after the Carlow midfielder.

Kelly started is in her second stint with Shelbourne after returning to the club ahead of this season. Last season, she was part of the of Wexford team that won this competition after a tense penalty shoot-out.

“Last year I won it with Wexford. We played Bohs in the final and won on penalties. And then, yeah, this year with Shels we made it to the final and it's really to win it again.

“It’s really nice to be able to do back-to-back and to have the trophy around halfway through the season. It’s a nice boost for the second half of the season.” 

She said it was a special moment when the final whistle blew to crown them champions.

“We got to celebrate as a team afterwards. Lifting a trophy is always a nice feeling with all the girls and all the management and everyone that's involved. So yeah, it was really nice with my family in the stands as well.” 

Like last season, the final was played on Kelly's team's home pitch and that proved to be a big help.

“We had home fans there, which has been great throughout the season. I think around 1,300 people showed up, maybe even a bit more, for the final on Saturday, which was really nice. They definitely helped drive us on.

“Ferrycarrig last year was really nice as well. Loads of people turned up then too. It is nice to have that home advantage, obviously. You know the dressing rooms and the pitch inside out, so it’s really nice to have that support behind you.” 

With the first piece of silverware in the bag, Kelly is hoping that Shels can kick on and push for more honours. They haven't given up in the league title race. They are six points behind league leaders Athlone Town but have only lost one game. A number of draws has hampered their title challenge but Kelly believes they can still be the shake-up at the business end of the season.

“We’ve only lost one game. We have a few draws in there, but we’re turning the table now, so hopefully we can keep picking up points where we can and continue to drive on.

“It’s quite tight up there, and obviously Athlone are away in Europe now, so they have a busy few weeks ahead of them. I think it’s just important for us to focus on ourselves, take each game as it comes and keep pushing.” 

In a busy period of the season, Shelbourne also face Bohemians this weekend in a third competition, the quarter-finals of the FAI Cup.