Sporting fingal 4 - 1 Athlone Town

• Paul Moore
• Sat, Aug 15 2009


Sporting Fingal booked their place in the FAI Ford Cup quarter finals with a 4-1 demolition of Athlone Town at Morton Stadium. Conan Byrne was once again the tormenter in chief scoring twice for Liam Buckley’s men. Gary O’Neill’s blistering strike opened the scoring for the home side while Robert Bayly’s late solo goal capped off an impressive performance as Athlone were simply outclassed. Brendan Place’s men solitary strike came from a late Noel McGee penalty.

Fingal signalled their attacking intent as early as the third minute when Kirby’s through ball was nearly finished off by Conan Byrne. The winger had a sight of goal but Des Hope did well to apply pressure. Fingal didn’t have to wait long however to take the lead and it came thanks to some sloppy defending by the visitors. Kieran Reilly was caught in possession by Shaun Williams and the ball broke to Gary O’Neill who unleashed a vicious 25 yard shot that flew into the top corner leaving O’Reilly in the Athlone goal no chance.

Fingal nearly doubled their lead in the 18th minute when Kirby’s deep cross from the right was met by Byrne’s stinging volley which fizzed just over the bar. Byrne was getting a lot of early joy down the right wing as Athlone left back Brian Cleary who struggled in the opening half hour until he was replaced by Robert Hamm

Athlone had their first sight of goal when Fingal defender Gannon lost the flight of Kieran Reilly’s long pass. It looked like Benson might have capitalised but the forward curled his shot high and wide of Quigley’s goal. Kieran Reilly had the honour of becoming the first player booked when he tripped Bayly in the 41st minute.

Brendan Place’s half time team talk was made a lot harder when Fingal doubled their lead just before the break. The hosts were awarded a soft free on the edge of the penalty area for a tug on Foley’s jersey. Conan Byrne stepped up and saw his effort take a wicked deflection of Gorgescu in the wall and past the helpless O’Reilly in the Athlone goal.

O’Neill could have grabbed his second of the game in the 55th minute when he was denied by a smart save from O’Reilly at his near post. The home side weren’t to be denied however three minutes later when left back Fitzgerald whipped in a wicked delivery that was begging to be finished off. Conan Byrne duly obliged as he planted his header into the back of the net to bring his personal tally up to14 league goals this season.

Athlone introduced Hamm for Reilly in the 65th min and the substitute went straight into the book for a poorly timed challenge. Niall O’Reilly also saw yellow soon after as referee Rob Rogers began to dish out the cards. Corcoran and Zayed were introduced for O’Neill and Foley for the hosts while Athlone brought on Mernagh for Place.

Athlone got a consolation goal from the penalty spot after Benson was tripped by Maher in the Fingal area. Substitute Noel McGee coolly dispatched the penalty into the bottom corner. The goal was Athlone’s first against Fingal in five games.

The hosts finished the game off in style in the 88th minute when midfielder Bayly collected the ball just past the half way line. The former Leeds man drove at the heart of the Athlone defence who couldn’t get close to even put in a tackle. Bayly’s blistering run took him past the last defender and he coolly slotted past the keeper to book Fingal’s place in the draw for the quarter finals.

Sporting Fingal (4-3-3): Quigley; Gannon, Maher, Paisley, Fitzgerald; Bayly, Foley (Zayed 75), Williams; C. Byrne, O'Neill (Corcoran 70), Kirby

Athlone Town (4-5-1): A. O'Reilly; N. O'Reilly, Hardy, Hope, Cleary (Hamm 30); Georgescu, Hayes, Reilly (McGee 59), Benson, Tyrell; Place (Mernagh 71)

Referee: R Rogers.

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Conan Byrne- Scored two and set up another.

Attendance: 388.