Kelly Brady keeping options open after Athlone Town cup final heroics
Athlone Town's Kelly Brady celebrates scoring her hat-trick goal against Bohemians. Pic: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane
Clinching an historic double is one thing but retaining their backbone will be central to Athlone Town’s 2026 defence.
Kelly Brady crowned her stellar season by firing a hat-trick at Tallaght Stadium to see off first-team finalists Bohemians and lift the FAI Cup.
Her 19 goals were integral to sealing back-to-back titles and the Cup was never in doubt once she completed her hat-trick shortly after the interval to rack up a 3-1 lead.
Brady is one of three Americans in the team, alongside Maddie Gibson and Hannah Waesch. Their cosmopolitan hue is expanded by the presence of Cypriot goalkeeper Maria Matthaiou and captain Izzy Groves, a Jamaican international.
Yet there’s doubts over keeping the gang together to try to mirror the quest for immortality Shamrock Rovers are vying for in the men’s section.
"We'll see where it takes me, I’m keeping my options open right now," said New York-born Brady, ahead of linking up with the Irish squad as a training player for the Uefa Nations League playoff against Belgium.
"I would love to come back with Athlone and retain all these players and try to do this all over again. Because it feels good, you know?"
Their additional heroics of hurdling rounds in Europe, from the Champions to the Europa Cup, have been all the more admirable given manager Colin Fortune quit on the eve of their trip to Glasgow.
He was disillusioned with the uncertainty for next season but his caretaker successor John Sullivan, since rewarded with a two-year contract extension, was relaxed about using the double as a springboard for domination.
“I’m very relaxed about things,” he asserted. “This was a normal day for me, up with my young son at 5am, having breakfast and visiting a playzone centre.
“My wife Simona just finished a half marathon in Rome.
“It's just a game of football. Personally, I try to kill the emotion. Just bring it all down. It was the same on my wedding day. This was just a game of football.” The Midlanders’ second Cup triumph was earned by cancelling out an early screamer by Alannah McEvoy on six minutes.
Brady had already claimed the golden boot during Town’s successful defence of their title and she swelled her haul with a 26-minute treble.
Firstly, she rose majestically to head home Shaunna Brennan’s left-wing cross on 22 minutes.
Her compatriot Gibson assisted for her second, lofting in a free that hung in the air for the striker to steer her header beyond Rachael Kelly.
Three minutes into the second half and Brady notched her third, pouncing on the loose ball after Gibson’s shot was blocked. She swivelled inside the box to find the room to squeeze her low shot beneath the grasp of Kelly.
Aoibhe Brennan set up a stirring finish by executing a sublime curler from 25 yards but Town held out for the last 17 minutes to clinch their first-ever double before a disappointing crowd of 3,608.
“I wish I had a goal scorer like that,” Bohs manager Alban Hysa lamented afterwards about Brady.
“We had a go in the last 30 minutes which was brilliant to see because that’s all I asked from them.
“I don’t ask them to win the game – just perform – but I thought maybe we scored too early.”
M Plaschko; K Brennan, K Shine, N McNally, S Brennan (S Rice 72); H Waesch; R Molloy (I Ryan 81), K Slevin, E Mooney (C Singleton 81), M Gibson; K Brady.
R Kelly; S Power, L Murphy, R McGovern, K Lovely (K Malone 87); S McKevitt (H O’Brien 46), A Brennan, F Donnelly, H Healy, L Glennon (K McCann 46); A McEvoy (S Kane 89).
Lucas Keating (Cork)
3,608.
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