League Report: Athlone Town 0 - 1 Dundalk
Credit:
There was late drama at Lissywoollen as Dundalk grabbed a last gasp winner against Athlone Town on Monday evening.
Richie Towell was the hero as he slotted home an injury-time penalty to give the Lilywhites a vital three points.
It was a scrappy opening to the match with both teams struggling to string any sort of passes together although Darren Meenan's low cross flashed across goal and just wide.
Athlone had their first effort of the evening when Sean Byrne volleyed wide of the goal after it was given away by Sean Gannon. Dundalk had their first real effort on goal when a scramble in the box from a brilliant Meenan corner allowed Andy Boyle to shoot just wide from 6 yards.
Kealon Dillon then shot wide of the post before he also had a shot well blocked by Gannon just before the half hour mark.
Patrick Hoban headed over the bar from 6 yards before Richie Towell’s first time strike on the right went well wide of Craig Sexton's goal.
Sean Brennan then shot wide of the post from distance and he had a second effort just before half-time but the free-kick went straight at Peter Cherrie.
Towell had another first time effort go over the bar this time from the edge of the box as referee Graham Kelly blew the half-time whistle to bring a disappointing first half to a close.
The second half didn't begin any better than the first and it was a scrap between both sets of midfielders as they struggled to hold onto the ball.
Substitute Kurtis Byrne shot wide with an ambitious volley from the left hand side of the box before Meenan's volley went just over the bar from the edge of the box after a Towell pull back.
Athlone had their best chance of the match with 67 minutes on the watch when Declan Brennan capitalised on looseness in the Dundalk defence and his swerving strike was brilliantly saved by Cherrie who was going in the opposite direction.
With 15 minutes on the watch the Lilywhites should have taken the lead when a Meenan cross sliced into the path of Byrne but the former Hibernian youth could only fire over the bar from 12 yards.
Meenan seemed to be denied a clear penalty by Barry Clancy who appeared to drag the midfielder down when clear on goal.
The visitors were piling on the pressure and a break from Meenan after a sweeping ball from Byrne saw the former square to Towell but his shot was blocked.
On 82 minutes David McMillan's turn of pace saw him clear on on Sexton but he shot horribly wide from just 8 yards and the former UCD star then had two quickfire shots well blocked by the home defence.
Then came the defining moment of the match. With the game heading for a 0-0 draw, a punt into the box from Byrne found Meenan and he was adjudged to have been bundled over by Sean Brennan and referee Graham Kelly had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, brandishing the red card to the Drogheda native also.
Towell stepped up and showed a calm head to send Sexton the wrong way to find the net and see Dundalk go home with three points.
Athlone Town: Craig Sexton; Conor McMahon, Stephen Quigley (Ian Sweeney 86), Declan Brennan, Barry Clancy; Kealon Dillon, Mark Hughes (Jason Marks 74), Sean Brennan, James O'Brien, Sean Byrne; Philip Gorman.
Substitutes not used: Graham Rusk.
Booked: Clancy (37), O'Brien (62), D Brennan (87)
Sent off: S Byrne (90+3)
Dundalk: Peter Cherrie; Sean Gannon, Mark Rossiter, Andy Boyle, Dane Massey; Ruaidhri Higgins, Richie Towell; Darren Meenan, John Mountney (David McMillan 60), Daryl Horgan (Kurtis Byrne 46); Patrick Hoban (Mark Griffin 82).
Substitutes not used: Gabriel Sava (gk), Brian Gartland, Chris Shields, Simon Kelly,
Booked: None.
Referee: Graham Kelly.
Attendance: 502
Extratime.ie man of the match: Darren Meenan (Dundalk)
