WHILE her Shelbourne team-mates may have been lamenting the noon kick-off time at Turner’s Cross, which meant they had to leave Dublin in the early hours of Saturday morning, it wasn’t a problem for Saoirse Noonan.

“I stayed with my granny last night. She lives around the corner so I was definitely on time this morning. I think the girls got stuck in some roadworks on the way down so it delayed them,” Noonan admits shortly after full-time.

It seemed to work wonders as the striker scored and may well claim the assist for another in the first half which set Shels on the way to a 4-0 win against her former club.

“At the end of the day we got out, we got our warm-up done nice and quick. We didn’t get going at the very start and that was a bit of an issue that we have had over the last couple of games,” she continued.

“But we found our feet, scored some goals, and kept a clean sheet.

“I had a chance for the first goal but Maria O’Sullivan, I have to say she was absolutely outstanding, got down low and saved it so I knew when I took my next shot that I had to follow it up and I was lucky on the turn that I was able to get it underneath her. Some days they go in, some days they don’t.

“We probably didn’t play our best football, but we got two goals in the first half, we kind of sat back then which gave them opportunities that they could have put away.

“It was the same in the second half; we got another two goals and got the win. It was a good game to watch and it was enjoyable to play in.”

Noonan hobbled off with a minor knock on the 75th minute and it could be the last time she features at the Cross for some time.

The Republic of Ireland international rejoined Shels at the beginning of the season as part of her recovery from an injury that she suffered shortly after signing for Durham but she is now set to return to the English Championship side in the coming weeks.

“Unfortunately, I had an injury that set me back for about two and a half months so I’m still trying to find full fitness but I am getting there. We have a mid-season break coming up in June so I am just going to enjoy the next two games and see what happens from there,” she concluded.