11 months ago
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SHOCKING Manchester City in the Women’s FA Cup today would be a dream come true for Durham midfielder Saoirse Noonan.
Like childhood pal and Luton winger Chiedozie Ogbene, Noonan wants to keep her side’s run going.
Republic of Ireland ace Saoirse Noonan hopes Durham can give Manchester City a run for their money in their FA Cup clash laterSportsfile
AlamyPrem ace Ogbene, 26, faces a third-round replay at Bolton on Tuesday while Noonan, 24, wants to help her second-tier Wildcats to an upset against the visiting WSL giants.
The Irish pair grew up on the same estate in Cork and Noonan said: “We came through the same ranks of playing Gaelic football with Nemo Rangers and both went on to play football for Cork City.
“We grew up across the road from each other. We (my Dad and me) used to collect Chiedozie every day and bring him to training.
We came through the same ranks of playing Gaelic football with Nemo Rangers, our local club, and then we both went on to play (football for) Cork City.
“My Dad was coaching my brother’s (football) team, so I trained with them
“Then we both moved on from there and we both played for Championship sides. From there, he excelled in the Premiership.
“He is one of the (league’s) fastest players beating the likes of Manchester City’s Kyle Walker.
“I think just looking at that gives everyone a bit of hope and (that’s) definitely so for me when I speak to him.”
This lunchtime Noonan and her pals face City in a fourth-round clash set to be attended by a sell-out crowd at Durham University’s Graham Sports Centre.
The match comes 11 months after Durham, who are sixth in the Women’s Championship and six points off promotion chasing leaders Birmingham, faced Man United in the FA Cup.
Last February the Wildcats fell to a 5-0 fifth-round loss to Marc Skinner’s aces.
However, this year Noonan hopes her team can give the Red Devils’ neighbours a run for their money.
Durham are one of only two sides left in the contest who are standalone women’s teams unaffiliated with a men’s club.
She added: “We’re Durham, and we’re a small team with no men’s team backing (us).
“That just goes to show the hard work of everyone and commitment by everyone.
“It’s 90 minutes and we have them at home which is obviously a huge help to us.
“We’re on a 4G (pitch) and maybe it’s a slightly smaller pitch than there used to.
“This is a huge day for Durham. All our fans are coming and it’s sold-out.
“We just need to bounce off that, use their energy, feed off it and come to the game with loads of energy.
“We can’t shy away and we cannot go in with fear. We have respect for their players.
“But at the end of the day we have to try just as hard as them and not give them the respect and stand back and leave them to boss us off the pitch.”
Like Ogbene, Noonan began her senior association football playing career at Cork City in 2015 after playing Gaelic football.
And she hopes their journeys in the game can inspire young footballers back home dreaming of playing in the professional game.
Noonan said: “For me growing up, we didn’t have as many female role models playing professional football.
“It wasn’t a thing that you could say, ‘I’m going to go and make it my full-time job.
“I think I’m blessed enough that I get to wake up every morning and my job is going to kick a ball around.
Alamy“But we’ve (Chiedozie and me) have worked hard enough to get to where we are.
“I think it shows now when I go home, the little girls can think, ‘I can do that as a living, and I don’t have to do 101 thing is just kick a ball on Tuesday evening’.
“You can actually make it your life.”
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