Kelly sisters to meet for second time in a week

The first round of fixtures for the LOI Women’s Premier Division, which gets underway tomorrow, throws up an intriguing tie as twin sisters Aoife and Ciara Kelly are set to meet when their respective sides Shelbourne and Treaty United go head to head in the opening round tomorrow, Saturday, March 14th. 

The two sisters played together at St. Pat’s for many years before leaving to start their League of Ireland careers.

Aoife said that it’s going to be a strange feeling to face each other.

“It's so funny, we obviously barely get to play against each other but in the space of like four days we've both been on opposite teams so it's funny. It's actually fun because obviously we grew up playing on the same teams and stuff and then obviously a few years ago we went our separate ways and we hadn't been playing against each other,” she explained.

“It’ll be nice to have that on the pitch again tomorrow. Obviously she’s in goal, so we’re in different areas, but we know each other very well and understand how each other plays.

“At the same time, we’re not two outfield players going into challenges together, so we probably won’t cross paths all that often during the game,” she added.

Speaking last month after signing for Treaty, Ciara said it would be a special occasion to face her sister in her first League of Ireland senior match.

“My first match is against my sister, so that'll be exciting to see her on the pitch. I'm very much looking forward to that match as well. I think we played against each other in November in a college match, Maynooth vs UCC. So it was kind of recent, but before that we'd never played against each other. Yeah, we were [on the same team growing up]. 

"And it's very exciting to see where we've both gone. I'm so proud of her, obviously. It's lovely to play against her. Even in the college match, it was kind of funny. We were just giggling away on the pitch. But it's lovely to see where we've come to now,” said Kelly. My first match is against my sister, so that’ll be exciting. I’m really looking forward to it.

“We actually played against each other in November in a college match — Maynooth against UCC — so it’s fairly recent. Before that we’d never faced each other, as we were always on the same team growing up.

“It’s really exciting to see where we’ve both ended up and I’m very proud of her. Even in the college match we were giggling away on the pitch. It’s lovely to be able to share moments like that.” 

The two sisters clashed earlier this week in the Kelly Cup with their respective Universities UCC and NUI Maynooth, a competition named after their father.

“It was lovely. The cup is actually named after my dad, so it was a really special occasion. For me and Ciara to be playing against each other made it even more unique. I did feel a bit bad when I scored against her, but it was a great moment overall,” said Aoife.

“It meant a lot to both of us because we knew what was at stake. It was really nice that UCC and Maynooth ended up meeting in the final, which meant our family could all be there to watch.

“In a way it was a win-win for our parents, because they knew one of us was going to win the cup.” Aoife and Maynooth won, completing a league and cup double having won the league earlier in the year.

““It was a great year for Maynooth. We did really well in the league and wanted to do as well as we could in the cup as well. We have a really strong team, so overall it was a very positive season and the girls really enjoyed it. It was a nice year for us.” She returned to Shels this season, the club that she started her LOI career with, and after disappointment in last week’s Presidents Cup, she’s ready to get their league campaign underway.

“Athlone are a very good side, so it was a good test for us. We narrowly lost 1–0 but it was a good game. That’s done now and the focus turns to the league. Hopefully we can take what we learned from last weekend into the start of the campaign,” said Aoife.

“We’ll try to do as well as we can. Athlone are a strong team, but there are other sides in the league pushing as well, so I think it will be very competitive this year. We start the league tomorrow against Treaty United, so it should be a tough test. They’ve brought in a few new players, like ourselves, so it should be a good game.” 

Ciara signed her first League of Ireland senior contract last month, signing for Treaty having enjoyed a tough spell at Waterford last season.

“It's really exciting. I'm delighted to join Treaty and get going for the season with them,” she told The Nationalist. “I'm in college in Cork, so Limerick isn't actually that far from me, from Cork. So I got in contact with Treaty and then I went to a trial and got going from there,” Ciara had a tough time at Waterford last season, finding game time hard to come by. 

"She started the season as back up to Maeve Williams in the senior team and started for the U19’s. However, once the first choice ‘keeper returned for the 19’s she was demoted to the bench, and found herself out of the squad for the senior team, but says it was a great learning experience.

“It was [tough]. I love Waterford as a club. I started there and it was really exciting being a part of the senior squad for their first senior match and just being along the road for that as well as being involved with the 19s. I didn't get much game time last year, but I just kept my head down and kept working and I'm really grateful for the opportunity to move to Treaty now.” 

She has had a lot of experience in the League of Ireland at underage level, with both Waterford and Shamrock Rovers.

“I started off in Waterford in 2022 Waterford came and approached me, I remember they emailed saying Pats, so they came and approached me wanting me to sign for the 2022 season,” Ciara explained about how she got started in the League of Ireland.

“Then in the 2023 season I moved to Rovers just kind of for a change for a bit, move up to Dublin, get a bit of experience up there and I really enjoyed my time there as well.

“At the time, Rovers wasn't really suited for me. I didn't enjoy it near the end of the season. So I just decided to move back to Waterford. There was an opportunity there in Waterford. And Waterford's kind of a home to me. It's where I started. So I did really enjoy Waterford,” she added.