Tommy Barrett rues narrow Athlone Town defeat ahead of Treaty United's clash with Wexford

Eanna Mackey reports from Athlone Town Stadium

Tommy Barrett’s Treaty United were left frustrated once again, suffering their second consecutive 1-0 defeat, extending their winless run to four games in the First Division against Athlone Town on Monday evening.

The decisive strike came from the boot of Aaron Connolly in the seventeenth minute in a game that the Treaty manager believes was impacted by the officiating.

“I thought we were unlucky. They had one real chance, a good finish but I think the linesman could’ve put up his flag, it looked offside to me,” said Barrett after the final whistle in Athlone.

“After that, we had all the play, we were well on top. Willie (Armshaw) and Yoyo (Mahdy) had good chances and then at the end, it looked like two handballs to me. We felt as if we didn’t get the decisions today which is unfortunate.

“We played really good football there tonight, I thought we kept the ball well and we took over, it was just a long ball over the top and they scored."

Barrett will have to do without several first-team regulars including Lee Devitt, Colin Conroy, and goalkeeper Corey Chambers ahead of the trip to Wexford on Friday.

“It’s tough because we’re missing probably three or four midfielders,” he said. 

“It’ll be a different game in Wexford, you can play a bit more football on it but there pitch but it isn’t in great condition at the minute so we’re just going to have to keep trying to do our best,” he said.