League Preview: Athlone Town -v- Cork City

ATHLONE TOWN

Friday night sees newly promoted Athlone Town welcome Cork City to town for a 7:45pm kick off at Athlone Town Stadium.

While Athlone are pointless after three games, they have certainly not been toothless having found the back of the net in all three games (five Premier Division clubs failed to do this). Their first game back in the top flight even saw them take the lead against the FAI Cup holders Sligo Rovers, only for a late Evan McMillan goal to deny them a point.

Experienced striker Philly Gorman has scored two of their three goals but is a doubt with an injury complaint for this game and will be assessed closer to kick off.

Also in doubt are James O’Brien (back) and Aidan Collins (shoulder), while definitely out is Neil Harney who is suffering from a dead leg.

There is better news for Niall Scullion however as he returns from Syria where he was stationed with the Irish Defence Forces and is available for selection again.

Athlone manager Mick Cooke has had many battles with Cork City over the last few years while in charge of Monaghan United and more recently Drogheda United, and speaking to “All Tangled Up in Blue and Black” the clubs match day programme, the experienced boss spoke of his respect for his counterpart and the disappointment of another defeat last week.

“Cork City managed by John Caulfield a true legend of our game have made a great start to the season and are topping the league table with Shamrock Rovers. This will be a very tough game but as a team we are looking forward to the match.

“I was pleased with the team’s performance against UCD but both the players and myself were disappointed that we did not come away with a point – in fact I felt we should have got all three. However, Conor O’Driscoll, UCD’s goalkeeper had a brilliant game and made some really excellent saves.”

CORK CITY

In-form Cork City travel to Athlone Town Stadium on Friday night, amid somewhat of an injury crisis with potentially four strikers out injured for the tie.

Danny Morrissey and Michael Rafter are yet to feature this season as both are out with ankle injuries. While Morrissey is a couple of weeks away from returning to training, Rafter suffered a setback in his bid to return last week and will definitely miss the Athlone Town and Shamrock Rovers games.

Former Avondale striker Mark O’Sullivan is also a doubt, having been taken off with a hip injury against Bray last Friday night. After the game manager Caulfield told Extratime.ie that O’Sullivan is still getting to grips with Premier Division football.

“Mark is a tough boy and Mark should be ok. But to be fair to the guy, he’s adjusted to full time football and he needs to understand that he needs to rest during the week because it’s not like junior football or senior league football.”

While O’Sullivan may recover in time, Anthony Elding is also a doubt for the game with his chances of making it rated as not even 50/50.

Liam Kearney is another doubt with a hamstring injury while John Dunleavy has had a recurrence of tonsillitis – something which has plagued him over recent years – but Caulfield is hopeful his captain will be fit enough to play.

Speaking to CorkCityFC.ie ahead of the game, manager Caulfield reiterated his belief that Friday night’s tie will be a tough test for his team.

“As I keep saying, there are no easy games. Teams are so competitive and anyone can get a result against anyone else on the day. Mick Cooke is a superb manager. He did a fantastic job at Drogheda; he works really hard and is an unsung hero in the league in many ways.”  

“All of our energy has to go into Friday night and we need to make sure we are in top form. If we play at our best, I believe we will win the match, but if we’re not, then we will drop points. Athlone will have nothing to lose; they will come out and have a go at us. We need to start well, react well and make sure we keep our composure.”  

Referee: Robert Harvey

MATCH STATS

Cork City’s first encounter with Athlone Town was at home (Flower Lodge) on December 16th 1984. Tony Neiland gave Cork City a 16th minute lead after good work from Bobby Woodruff down the left wing. However second half goals from Derek Carroll, Michael O’Connor (2) and Terry Eviston gave the visitors a 4-1 victory on the day.

The last top flight clash between the sides was in March 1996 when Athlone Town won 2-0 courtesy of an own goal by Cork City full back Darren Shaw after 36 minutes and a 73rd minute strike from Michael Collins.

Cork City beat Athlone Town 3-0 in the 1998 FAI Cup Semi Final at St Mel’s Park. After setting Noel Hartigan up for the opener, Jason Kabia scored a brace to seal Cork City’s place in the FAI Cup Final.

BETTING

Athlone Town 11/2; Draw 13/5; Cork City 8/15.

PREDICTION

Athlone Town 1 Cork City 2

Athlone Town

Injured: Neil Harney
Doubtful: Philly Gorman (ankle), James O’Brien (back), Aidan Collins (shoulder)
Suspended: None

Cork City

Injured: Danny Morrissey (ankle), Michael Rafter (ankle)
Doubtful: Anthony Elding (ankle), Liam Kearney (hamstring), Mark O’Sullivan (hip), John Dunleavy (tonsillitis)
Suspended: None