Late rally gives Treaty United an away win over Waterford

SUBSTITUTE Caroline Penner inspired a 3-1 win for Treaty United against Waterford, as the visitors scored three goals in the final ten minutes of their penultimate game of the 2026 SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division at the RSC.

The victory was Treaty’s ninth of the season and sees them move into sixth place in the table. Treaty finish their campaign at home to DLR Waves.

Treaty dominated the early possession; the first real chance of the game falling to young striker Ciara Breslin in the eighth minute, but her shot flashed just wide of the Waterford goal.

Breslin was again involved in a good Treaty move a few minutes later, dropping deep to receive the pass before feeding Eva Loftus in a dangerous area. Like Breslin, though, Loftus couldn’t keep her shot on target, letting Waterford off the hook.

Seemingly happy to soak up the pressure and try to counter-attack, Waterford had their first half-chance of the game in the seventeenth minute. Fiana Bradley seized on a miscommunication in the Treaty defence but couldn’t quite get her balance right, the shot flying well wide.

Treaty’s goalkeeper Emma Jones was called into action for the first time in the 25th minute, as Bradley got on the end of a loose ball on the edge of the box. The Waterford striker’s half-volley forced a decent save from Jones, albeit one she would have expected to make.

A loose back-pass from Kyah Coady presented Lauren Egbuloniu with an excellent chance to put the hosts in front in the thirty-eighth minute, but Kate Jones spared her centre-half’s blushes with a brilliant goal-line clearance.

Just after the interval, some fantastic counter-attacking play between Bradley and Egbuloniu teed up a golden opportunity for Chloe Atkinson, but the midfielder couldn’t keep her shot on target, a huge chance wasted by Waterford.

Ten minutes after half-time, Bradley managed to wriggle away from Coady, setting up another chance for Atkinson, but her shot could only sting the gloves of Emma Jones.

Suddenly, all the momentum was with the home side, and they made Treaty pay just before the hour mark. A Waterford corner was headed across the Treaty box before Anna Gornell flicked an overhead kick into the far corner of the net.

Treaty captain Katie Lawlee looked the most dangerous threat for the visitors; she whipped in a beautiful cross for Caroline Penner in the sixty-eighth minute, but the substitute headed just wide. A couple of minutes later, another Penner header forced a good save from Waterford captain Maeve Williams.

As Treaty committed numbers forward, space started to open up for Waterford. Fiana Bradley found some room on the edge of the box and crashed a brilliant effort off the Treaty crossbar.

At the other end of the pitch, Penner posed a real physical challenge for the Waterford defence and, with ten minutes to go, Meadhbh Doherty brought down the American in the box. Lawlee sent Williams the wrong way with the ensuing penalty, setting up a thrilling finish at the RSC.

Waterford simply could not deal with Penner. With five minutes left in the game, the striker got on the end of a long ball, skipped past Kaytlin Conroy and crossed for Mulvihill, who finished well to put Treaty 2-1 up in the dying stages.

Penner got a deserved goal herself in the eighty-eighth minute, beating Doherty in the Waterford box and smashing a superb shot past Williams, sealing the win for the Limerick side.

Waterford FC: Maeve Williams, Jess Lawler, Meadhbh Doherty, Dan Burke, Chloe Atkinson, Lauren Egbuloniu (Aisling Mahony, 78 mins), Mia Lenihan, Fiana Bradley, Anna Gornell, Kaytlin Conroy, Stephanie Dumevi.

Treaty United: Emma Jones, Grace McInerney, Kyah Coady, Emma Oliphant, Ellen Goggin, Kate Jones, Madison McGuane (Alex Sheehy, 30 mins), Katie Lawlee, Eva Loftus (Aibhlinn Cotter, 78 mins), Ciara Breslin (Caroline Penner, 61 mins), Fiona Doherty (Honor Mulvihill, 61 mins).

Referee: Kate O’Brien.