First Division Playoff Preview: Wexford -v- Athlone Town

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WEXFORD

Wexford host Athlone Town at Ferrycarrig Park on Monday afternoon knowing they have to overturn a 1-0 deficit from first-leg of their promotion playoff if they are to progress to the next round (kick-off is at 3pm).

A large crowd is expected for this Bank Holiday fixture and after putting in a strong performance at Lissywollen in the first leg, the home side will be full of confidence that they can get past Athlone and progress on to the final where they will meet either UCD or Bray Wanderers.

In the first leg, it was Athlone’s Gideon Tetteh’s clever interception and sharp footwork that forced Wexford’s Lewis Temple into his awkward body check of the 19-year-old winger after 52 minutes.

And the First Division’s top scorer Dean Ebbe duly sent Wexford keeper Conor Walsh the wrong way from the resultant penalty to make it 1-0 to the Midlanders.

Wexford’s Thomas Oluwa, Ethan Boyle and Divin Isamala ran hard and direct at the Athlone defence in search of an equaliser.

But it was to no avail as Wexford were reduced to shots from distance that never looked like getting them back on level terms.

Manager James Keddy said: “I don’t think we did ourselves justice in the first game, we did not pass the ball well, gave away a silly goal as well so overall it was a disappointing night.

“It’s only half time, we go again on Monday and we have to stay positive. We were in this situation also last year so we will give it a good bash on Monday.”

ATHLONE TOWN



Athlone Town boss Dario Castelo will be hoping to build on his team’s slender one-goal lead when they travel to the Model County on Monday afternoon.

They have already scored nine times against Wexford in all games this season and with Ebbe being the First Division’s leading scorer this season.

Ebbe’s penalty was the difference between the two sides in a somewhat dour encounter at Lissywollen so Castelo will be looking for a much-improved performance from his troops if they are to make it to Dalymount Park for the play off final.

They accumulated a very healthy 55 points from their 36-game league campaign, amassing 15 wins along the way, so they will see themselves as well capable of progressing to the promotion playoff final if not all the way to the Promotion/Relegation playoff final against Drogheda United at Richmond Park on November 16th.

Castelo spoke to Midlands 103 FM in advance of the journey to the south east and said: “This is the first half of this challenge. 

“In the first game we did not have too many opportunities, we played with our wingers wide, and we tried our own offensive transitions.



"Our Plan B was to keep controlling the game, stay balanced as the most important thing for us was the final result from these two games and we are in a good position to get that result.

“The characteristics of the game on Monday I feel will be very similar to the first game, both teams are very compact, I expect Wexford to be more direct and we will prepare our game accordingly.”

Referee: Alan Patchell

 

MATCH STATS

The four league matches between these two sides during the league campaign showed that there was little to separate the two sides this season.

Prior to the first leg of the play off last week, Wexford had won twice, home and away, there was one draw and Athlone won the first encounter back on the opening day of the season in Lissywollen. 

PREDICTION

Wexford 2-0 Athlone Town (2-1 aggregate score)

 

Wexford

Injured: N/A.

Doubtful:N/A.

Suspended:None.

 

Athlone Town

Injured: N/A.

Doubtful: N/A.

Suspended: None.

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