Kerley delighted with Athlone victory

After being humbled 7-0 by Cork City in their previous game, Athlone Town manager Mike Kerley was delighted with the way his side bounced back with a 2-0 win over local rivals Longford Town on Saturday night.

A brace from Noel McGee saw Athlone record their first win over Longford this season. Kerley was pleased with how the game went. “It was a great way to come back,” he told extratime.ie. “It was a great win and I’m delighted for the lads especially after a big defeat against Cork. We had worked hard in training during the week. But we still found it tough against Longford. A lot of the lads are still very young and are learning.”

The football on show wasn’t great but there were a few talking points. Longford Town keeper Paul Hunt was sent off in the 17th minute and Athlone Town were awarded a penalty while Longford Town had claims for a penalty turned down in the second half. Kerley didn’t say much about both decisions. “I’ll give my Arsene Wenger opinion; I didn’t see any of them. I think our penalty was maybe one and theirs could’ve gone either way. Certain refs give them and others don’t. That’s what happened tonight.”

Kerley admitted that the sending off and penalty decision were turning points in the game because Longford took a grip of proceeding and were unlucky not to put away the chances that came their way. “It changed the whole game. We started to drop off and let Longford play and they came back at us. The second half it was all Longford. Going on the second half and the chances they created they deserved something out of the game. I think overall the lads might’ve got a little bit nervous over the Cork. A third goal would’ve been crucial. They get it, they’re back in it, we get it the game’s over. There was only one team that looked like scoring in the second half and that was Longford.”

Since Kerley added to his squad during the transfer market they have taken four points out of their two meetings with their biggest rivals. Unfortunately for the Athlone boss a few players he signed from Junior football in Limerick have decided to return to Shannonside. He said, “We did make signings in the transfer window but then we lost a lot of players. A lot of them have gone back playing junior football and it’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to keep them. They are good players and should be playing League of Ireland. But it gives other young lads a chance to come in.”

Saturday night’s win put Athlone just three points behind 7th place Merve Utd and five off Longford Town. Kerley though isn’t looking at his side’s position in the table or hasn’t set a target of where he’d like them to finish. “We are really not looking at where we are going to finish in the table. It’s really about how we develop the players we have and get the best out of them. It’s now really down to club to make decision on where they’re going to go next season; it is going to be continue with the young lads or look at something different. I think we’ve shown this year that there’s a good quality of young player around the Athlone area.”