- Keith Wallace
- Fri, Jul 04 2008
A penalty from substitute Trevor Vaughan in the final seconds of normal time saved promotion chasing Dundalk from a disastrous draw at home to Athlone Town on Thursday night, as the veteran striker rose from the bench to coolly slot in from the spot. Vaughan had only been on the pitch five minutes when his services were called upon, and, like so often in the past, the 34-year-old stood up and rescued the Oriel outfit with a superb finish.
For so long, it looked like John Gill’s men would fall to a third disappointing result on the trot as Athlone frustrated the hosts with a defensive set-up. Returning midfielder David Cassidy came closest in the first-half as his header was tipped over by Athlone ‘keeper Ciaran Kelly, before John Flanagan, Aidan Lynch and Tiarnán Mulvenna saw efforts fly wide of the target. Dundalk continued on the front foot during the second-half, and, after Robbie Martin had a goal ruled out and Cassidy fired over, the Lilywhites rode their luck and got their season back on track with a late but deserved winner.
For the game, Gill made four changes to the side which tamely went down to Limerick 37 the previous week. Defender Ben Whelehan was the sole one which was enforced as he sat out through suspension, while Paul Marney, Paul Crowley and Trevor Vaughan were dropped. Replacing the quartet was the returning duo of midfielder David Cassidy and right-back John Flanagan, who both returned from one-match bans, captain Aidan Lynch and young striker Tiarnán Mulvenna. Left-back Shane Grimes, meanwhile, was also unavailable due to a one-match suspension.
Dundalk started very brightly and they almost took a deserved lead on ten minutes. Jamie Duffy forced the free after cutting in between two defenders, and David Crawley’s resulting free-kick from the left was headed narrowly wide by John Flanagan. Just moments later, the Lilywhites threatened again, with Duffy once more involved. This time, the winger’s delivery from the right was perfect for David Cassidy at the back post. However, he saw his header tipped over by Ciaran Kelly in the Athlone goal. Seconds later, Crawley’s corner was headed wide by Aidan Lynch eight-yards out.
On 20 minutes, Dundalk had another chance from a set-piece. Again Crawley delivered, and this time it was Tiarnán Mulvenna who couldn’t find the target as he headed well wide from a good position. Moments later, the host were again on the attack and had a legitimate penalty claim waved away after Cassidy was pushed in the back inside the area. Unfortunately for Dundalk, that was their last opportunity of the half, as Athlone settled well following the midway point of the half. John Gill’s men never threatened the visiting goal, and it was the midlanders who could have hit their opponents with a sucker-punch on the stroke of half-time. A quick break forward allowed Colm Jinks to cut inside, however, from a good position, the midfielder fired a weak shot straight at goalkeeper Chris Bennion.
Following the resumption, Dundalk continued to hold the majority of possession. However, they had to wait until just before the hour-mark for their first chance of the half. Flanagan picked out Davie O’Connor on the left edge of the box, however, despite having a free opening on goal, the winger instead chose to pass to Cassidy, whose efforts were thwarted by a combination of three Athlone defenders. Indeed, it was the visitors who came closest to scoring as Ian Rossiter’s cross from the right was picked up at the far post by Ian Coffey. However, with just Bennion to beat, the winger shot wide of the target.
Within sixty seconds, the home side thought they had broke the deadlock as Robbie Martin fired to the back of the net. However, his strike was ruled out as he was adjudged to be offside from O’Connor’s pass. With eighteen minutes remaining, Dundalk came close to breaking the deadlock. Crawley’s free was flicked on by Mulvenna, however, a combination of Flanagan and then Mulvenna once more failed to bury the ball as the latter’s attempt went well over the bar from the edge of the six-yard box.
On 75 minutes, another delivery from Crawley into the box was picked up by Cassidy on the right side. However, with space to shoot, the 23-year-old blasted over. The midfielder was in behind the defence within moments, however, this time, his on-target lob was gathered by the outstretched arms of Kelly. As they struggled to create anything in attack, Dundalk were almost caught on the break again six minutes from time as Niall Scullion’s 20-yard strike had to be tipped over by Bennion.
However, the game was to take one last twist in the final minute of normal time. A long Flanagan free into the box appeared to be handled by a visiting defender, with the referee pointing straight to the spot. Incredibly, it was the first league penalty which Dundalk had been awarded at home since October 2004! And, it was well worth waiting for, as substitute Trevor Vaughan stood up and buried the ball from 12-yards to inject a powerful shot back into the arm of the Lilywhites’ promotion push.
Indeed, it wasn’t finished there, as Athlone had a live penalty claim turned down on 94 minutes as Dundalk struggled to clear. However, the ref this time waved the appeals away, a decision which prompted a very strong protest from the visitors, and one which saw Des Hope booked and Athlone’s stand-in manager sent-off.
Dundalk (4-4-2): Chris Bennion; John Flanagan, Aidan Lynch (Paul Crowley 81), Ian Ryan, David Crawley; Jamie Duffy, Paul Shiels, David Cassidy, Davie O’Connor (Paul Smyth 67); Tiarnán Mulvenna, Robbie Martin.
Subs not used: Aaron Shanahan (GK), Paul Marney.
Booked: D Crawley (44).
Athlone Town (4-5-1): Ciaran Kelly; Ian Rossiter, Des Hope, Nigel Keady, Philly Reilly; Anthony Hayes, Colm Jinks, Eric Lavine (Carmine Russo 79), Robbie Hamm (Niall Scullion 70), Ian Coffey; Johnny Mernagh (Noel McGee 87).
Subs not used: Lee Gaffey.
Booked: Lavine (14), Keady (44), Hayes (45), Hope (90+4).
Referee: Ian Stokes (Dublin).
Attendance: 1,200 (estimate).
MATCH STATS
Goals: 1-0
Shots: 8-8
Shots ON Target: 4-5
Shots OFF Target: 4-3
Corners: 3-2
Fouls Committed: 21-16
Offsides: 5-0
Yellow Cards: 1-4
Red Cards: 0-0
