Cork Foras Co-op 0 - 1 Athlone Town

• Alan Smith
• Sat, May 29 2010


Athlone Town rode their luck in the second half, but Austin Skelly’s 17th minute strike proved the difference to end their dour run of form at Turner’s Cross, as the Midlanders beat a disappointing Cork City by a single goal on Saturday evening.

Cork’s setup was ultimately the architect of their own downfall – Tommy Dunne’s philosophy of leading with just Graham Cummins on his own working against their favour at home again. Undoubtedly, the setup has worked on the road, but yet again their negativity in terms of formation proved costly in front of a demanding home support.

Athlone may have taken their goal well, but showed very little in the second half as the home team dominated but failed to find the net. It says a lot when your best player is your goalkeeper, but their commitment and solidity at the back meant the Town deserved to take the result back to Westmeath.

Having suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Mervue last weekend, Athlone travelled to Leeside in need of a confidence boost. Brendan Place made five enforced changes, Eoghan O’Shea, Richard O’Hanlon, Gordon Watson, Stephen Place and Des Hope all entering the fray.

City were unlucky not to take the points against promotion chasing Waterford United last week, and with just one loss in 11, they came into this tie wearing a big favourites tag despite their home form leaving a little to be desired.

In an even start to the game, Gordon Watson had his header saved easily by Mark McNulty in the sixth minute, while Uros Hojan fired wide from 20 yards on 11 minutes at the other end. Athlone, despite their poor away form which had yielded just one win on the road, lined up to attack and they reaped the awards in the 17th minute with Skelly firing home.

Mark Nolan was influential in the build-up as Watson headed back into Skelly’s path, Athlone’s top scorer firing a superb overhead kick into the bottom corner of the Cork net, leaving McNulty with no chance.

The away side were having a field day at the back, with some reckless football in the final third giving Cork little chance to break the Midlanders’ rearguard down. The introduction of Paul Deasy on the left wing for Cork just after the half hour saw a major reshuffle, with Uros Hojan switching to defence, Greg O’Halloran moving into the middle and Dave Warren taken off with a knock.

And it almost paid off. Deasy’s impact immediately felt as his superb dead-ball was planted onto O’Halloran’s head, and the new father had his headed effort cleared off the line by Stephen Place. Much of their attacking play was engineered by the wingers and Davin O’Neill went close in the last minute before the break, with half-time coming just at the right time from an Athlone point of view as they came under the cosh severely in the half’s latter stages.

The intensity crept up another level for the home side after the break and Shane Duggan’s poke at goal was deflected wide in the 49th minute, while Hojan hammered a long-range effort high and wide in a promising start to the second period for City.

Athlone sat back a lot more than they had done in the first half, though Skelly remained their main threat on the rare occasion they broke forward. On the one occasion they put men forward early in the second half, they almost paid dearly for it as Davin O’Neill broke forward.

He had a range of options, with Deasy, Shane Duggan and O’Halloran all advancing forward. O’Neill chose the latter, but O’Halloran’s touch was too heavy, with Chris Bennion smothering bravely to quell the danger. Cummins, meanwhile, had a glancing header bounce just wide from Turner’s cross in a dominant spell for the home team.

Athlone were certainly clinging on to their lead as the final twenty minutes loomed, and another Deasy corner culminated in O’Halloran heading straight at Bennion. Duggan and O’Neill also had good opportunities as time started to run out, while Cummins and O’Halloran were denied again by two splendid Bennion saves.

Cork City: Mark McNulty; Ian Turner (Eoin Forde, 78mins), Greg O’Halloran (Gearoid Morrissey, 78mins), Stephen Mulcahy, Dave Rogers; Davin O’Neill, Cillian Lordan, Shane Duggan, Dave Warren (Paul Deasy,35mins) Uros Hojan; Graham Cummins.
Subs unused: Michael Devine, Willie Heffernan.
Booked: Duggan, O’Halloran

Athlone Town: Chris Bennion; Mark Nolan, Des Hope, Brian McCarthy, Eoghan O’Shea; Richard O’Hanlon, Stephen Caffrey, Stephen Place, Shane O’Connell (Niall Scullion, 67mins); Austin Skelly (Shane Dolan,73mins), Gordon Watson (Stephen Relihan, 88mins).
Subs unused: Garvan Broughall, Michael Schlingermann.
Booked: McCarthy, Skelly

Referee: Stuart Templeman
Extratime Man of the Match: Chris Bennion
Attendance: 1351