By Gerard Mulreaney (@gerardmulreaney)
Limerick Goalkeeper Trish Fennelly Hunt (pictured above) said she fell out of love with the game, following a season with strugglers Kilkenny United in 2017. The club from the Marble City won just one game all season, losing the other seventeen.
However, when Limerick manager Dave Rooney came calling the 33 year-old felt it was too good an opportunity to turn down. Fennelly Hunt said, “When Dave rang me about Limerick it was the ideal opportunity to get back involved. When I spoke to the management team, and could see the direction they were looking to take the club, I knew I wanted to be involved. Another plus was it’s not to far from home either, for traveling to training every week, so I’m loving every minute of it and can’t wait for the rest of the season.”
Trish is married to fellow goalkeeper Paul Hunt, who’s first-team goalkeeper for Stephen Henderson’s Cobh Ramblers in the First Division of the League of Ireland, and says that being around the game all the time helped with her decision to get back playing. She said, “Originally I had decided to step away from the game, because I had lost the love for it. I’m around the game all the time with Paul playing League of Ireland with Cobh and my brother involved with Cork City I was missing it so much.”
Trish was delighted with the game against Kilkenny United, a game in which Limerick made their Women’s National League debut, “It was a very competitive game, the first half was very close. It was a big occasion for us with it being the clubs first game in the National League. We started very well and once we scored you could tell there was a bit of nerves, but as the game progressed the girls grew in confidence and we got better and better from there.”
“You could see in the second half the girls stepped up the levels and got some great goals. We worked really hard all over the pitch and we got the rewards for it. We have a very young side and a lot of the players are new to the WNL, however looking at them today you couldn’t tell that at all, they were well able for it.”
“It was a great way to start the league campaign and especially in front of the home crowd who were amazing today cheering us on through the whole game.”
With husband Paul having had back-to-back clean sheets against Cabinteely, and in an EA Sports Cup penalty shoot-out win over Wexford, Trish is hoping that she can keep that run going in their next game. However, it won’t be easy as they face a very tough game this weekend as they travel to take on FAI Cup holders Cork City.
Trish was thrilled to kick-off the new season with a clean sheet saying, “I was delighted to start the campaign with a clean sheet, that’s what I want every time I step on the pitch, and it’s my aim for the season to keep as many clean sheets as possible. To be honest the defense were very strong today they done their job so that helps hugely.”
Obviously all the Limerick players were making their debuts on what was a huge day for the club, and Trish says she was honoured to line-out for the club, “I was honored to make my debut with limerick today, they are a great team to play with. There’s some very experienced players and some fantastic young talent coming through, so I can’t wait to see what we can achieve.”
“It was a huge occasion for the club and for all the girls involved there has been a huge buzz since we started back pre season and we couldn’t wait to get started.”
That clash with Cork City, in what should be a cracking Munster Derby, takes place at a re-arranged venue of CIT with a kick-off time of 2pm.
Photo Credit: Kennedy/Eirefoto
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