Saoirse Noonan: Semi-final win set a standard we want to maintain

Saoirse Noonan: Semi-final win set a standard we want to maintain

Saoirse Noonan produced a player of the match performance at Hampden to help the Hoops reach the Scottish Cup final.

She scored the opening goal against Glasgow City at Hampden in the 3-2 semi-final win, almost grabbed a late winner in the 90th minute, and then early into extra-time provided an assist for Amy Gallacher to score.

And throughout the game, the Irish forward’s effort and endeavour helped the team to ultimately triumph and book a return trip to Hampden.

Speaking to Celtic TV after the game, Saoirse Noonan said: “It’s been a great day. It was a really tough week and a lot of really tired bodies in there, but you don’t feel the pain when you get a win and a performance like that.

“I was put in a bit of a different role today, just behind Poppy. It’s a role that I have done before and I knew I just had to give my all, get up and down the pitch and link the play.

"And towards the end, when I made a run towards the corner, I think the girls knew my time was up!

“This league is notorious for set-pieces and it’s such a big part of the game, and obviously City scored their set-piece late on.

“But I think it’s one of my big strengths. I saw the ball and I probably went into Craigy’s space but I just believed in myself and I knew I was going to get something on it and thankfully it went in.”

And as for the last-gasp header at the end of normal time which glanced off the post and went wide, denying Celtic a victory in the 90 minutes, she added: “Moments like that, you can either dwell on it or pick yourself back up.

"Obviously hitting the post with the final kick of the game, we could have rolled over and said that was our chance and it’s going to be another loss, but we didn’t.

“We found momentum from it and we took it. We knew we were going to get chances again and then, what a strike by Amy Gallacher!