Reaction to Shels’ 2-0 win over Athlone

Anthony ‘Bisto’ Flood was overjoyed after the 2-0 victory over Athlone Town on Friday. Speaking to extratime.ie after the game, Flood was quick to point to a team performance, despite his two strikes, being the difference:

“Delighted, delighted to get the ball rolling. Great performance by the team, we dug in when we got down to ten men and we got the goal to win it. Great team effort but I thought we deserved it really”

Speaking on his own performance, bringing his goal tally to four already at this early stage of the season, Flood could not have been more happy, “Four in four, its good, I just hope I can keep this going now”

Shels’ needed a win to stay in touch with promotion favourites Dundalk whose victory the night before opened up a six point gap at the top, however Flood wasn’t getting carried away. “Its only the start, you don’t look at the table really till after about ten or eleven games, then we’ll see where we are. If we keep going the way we’re going I think we’ll have no problem”

Speaking of the draw for the Eircom League Cup, which saw Shels’ face an away fixture against Premier Division holders Drogheda, Flood was excited. “It will be a tough one, it’s a great match to play in, that’s the teams you want to be playing against so I’m looking forward to it”. When asked by extratime.ie who he’d prefer in the next round, Flood was professional in his response. “As long as we’re still in the cup I don’t care, it doesn’t matter”

A beaming James Chambers was in a similarly upbeat mood after the game, despite the fact he was played out of position at right back for the game.

“I was told just before the game, a bit of a surprise but what can you do.” Chambers admitted he was slightly nervous before kick off but enjoyed the time and space afforded to Shels’ for the whole game.

“There’s tough games in this division but we dug deep and got the win thank god, hopefully we can push on from here now.

Speaking of the Drogheda game in the cup he added, “Yea it should be good, and up there we’ll get a good crowd as well and hopefully we’ll be able to play a bit of football”

However Chambers was quick to thank the support that braved the bitter rain and cold at Tolka Park. “The Shels’ fans are great, they turn out in rain, hail or snow. They’re unbelievable, they were here through the tough times last year and now hopefully we can give them something to cheer about”

Shels’ next fixture sees them travel to Wexford Youths on Friday, April 4. Kick off 8pm.