Trinity Women’s Soccer, off the back of a narrow loss in their season opener last Thursday, put in a dominant performance today in College Park, hammering a visiting IT Tallaght side 7-0 for their first three points of the season.
The home side started brightly, with fast passing play in a midfield ably anchored by Niamh Kane, but couldn’t generate good enough chances for their forwards to open the scoring early on. IT Tallaght focused on beating Trinity’s back four with long, searching through balls to their strikers, but the home defenders were disciplined and dealt with what little the visitors threw at them in the first half.
Trinity’s left wing proved particularly fruitful, with some lovely interplay between captain Áine Tucker and Madison Casey, but pressure from Tallaght’s defence prevented any clear-cut chances early on. A quick turn from Claire Nolan off a pinpoint pass from Ali Flaherty almost created the first chance of the match, but the visitors managed to clear the danger just before Nolan could get her shot off. A number of long-range strikes from Trinity failed to challenge the opposing side’s keeper and it looked as though Trinity’s domination of possession would come to nothing until a pass from Tucker found its way to Nolan at the edge of the box. A phenomenal double save from Tallaght’s keeper prevented the rebound from being turned in by Tucker, keeping the teams level.
Having been denied a golden opportunity to break the deadlock, Trinity showed new life going forward, with chances for Tara Coleman and Flaherty bringing the side closer to the opening goal of the match. Tallaght did well to prevent the dominant hosts from scoring for the majority of the first half, but quick passes in Trinity’s midfield eventually put Nolan through on goal. Her finish was calm and precise, putting Trinity into the lead just before the break.
Trinity continued to up the tempo going forward in the second half, working the ball wide and using their pace on the wings to get into crossing positions. A deftly placed header from Nolan off a throw-in gave Coleman all the space she needed to rifle in a shot off the post from a seemingly impossible angle to double the home side’s lead. Within minutes, Coleman had added a second goal to her tally, firing it into the top corner after she was found once again by Nolan.
IT Tallaght were by this stage struggling to retain possession, with high pressure from Trinity’s forwards forcing errors at the back and clearances that were picked off by the home side’s midfield with ease. A number of chances were kept out by Tallaght’s keeper, but Trinity soon found the back of the net again, Coleman completing her hat-trick with a composed finish after Flaherty put her through on goal.
A brief moment of attacking play from Tallaght threatened to result in a consolation, but Trinity’s back four remained alert, and at the other end the hosts responded with interest to make it 5-0, as substitute Aine O’Connor charged up the right wing and worked her way around a defender before drilling in a cross to Evelyn Hennigan for an easy finish.
O’Connor’s pace off the bench proved crucial to the home team towards the end, and it was from her pass that Nolan made it six after a subtle first touch. Trinity continued to push for more goals late into the half, and their persistence was rewarded as Jennifer Huebner buried a first-time strike, from yet another O’Connor another assist, with the last kick of the match.
The 7-0 victory gives Trinity their first win of the season, and will surely boost the side’s confidence after defeat to Maynooth last week. With their goal difference now the best in Division 1 Group A of the Colleges and Universities Football League (CUFL), the side will be hoping to go top of the group when they take on University College Dublin in their next CUFL game in November.
