Athlone Town 0 - 0 Cork City

• Alan Smith
• Fri, Mar 25 2011


Athlone Town managed to hold Cork City to a scoreless draw at home on Friday night, as Mike Kerley’s team defended admirably to frustrate the Leesiders.

In front of a sparse crowd of just a meagre 294, and on an incredibly bobbly pitch, this game failed to ignite and what ensued was a flat, dull encounter where the home team will certainly be happier with a point – their third on the bounce. This was also Cork’s second draw away from home, and although they remain unbeaten, will be, yet again, disappointed not to have won on the road.

The away side started strongly and had the ball in the net inside four minutes despite the goal being disallowed. Davin O’Neill cut in from the right flank before supplying Vinny Sullivan, who proceeded to bundle the ball past Michael Schlingermann. He was rightly called offside however, and the game remained scoreless.

Athlone’s main threat consistently came from Ronan Stack, and he sent in a couple of inviting crosses from the right flank which were intercepted by Kalen Spillane and Greg O’Halloran. Still, the away team continued to boss the early stages against Kerley’s depleted outfit, and Vincent Escude-Candau watched his effort from 20 yards fly just inches over the bar on 13 minutes.

Stack had Town’s first attempt on goal in the 18th minute when his tame header was easily smothered by Mark McNulty, and they did grow into the game after a sluggish start. Stephen Relihan was lively in the middle with Brendan Daly, while the vocal Tommy Barrett did a decent job in manning the defence.

The home team were then presented with a golden opportunity in the 28th minute, as Colm Smith turned O’Halloran inside out before playing a beautiful through ball into the path of Robbie Murray. Nonetheless, his low driven shot was well saved by McNulty and Kalen Spillane cleared the ball from danger.

With neither side in control, Sullivan had a couple of good chances for Cork around the half hour mark. Firstly, his glancing header was narrowly wide, while Schlingermann did well to save from a low effort from eight yards ten minutes before the break. Escude-Candau had another decent chance when he pounced on Sullivan’s lay-off, striking narrowly over yet again in the dying embers of the opening period.

Smith was almost given a glorious chance to break the deadlock five minutes after the break when Cork ‘keeper McNulty sliced his clearance straight to feet of the Town attacker. He was closed down quickly by Spillane though, and the danger was quelled by the away side. Morrissey blasted over a minute later at the other end, as the game continued in a similar fashion to the first: scrappy.

Cork had claims for a penalty on the hour mark when Graham Cummins went over in the area. Referee Rob Rogers refused to be influenced by a strong shout from the away team however, booking last season’s top scorer for simulation.

Athlone did retreat slightly as the game wore on and despite some sustained pressure from the away side, plus the introduction of Jamie Murphy and Timmy Kiely, Cork did very little to threaten the Town rearguard. A few lacklustre crosses were easily dealt with and as frustration continued to brew, a couple of lazy discrepancies at the back could have seen Athlone capitalise if they had more bodies forward.

Instead, Robbie Murray was made to feed off scraps up front on his own, with every other Town player back inside his own half, as Cork moved to 343 for the final ten minutes. The change of formation didn’t do much to alter the result however, as Athlone were resolute at the back, clearing any sniff of danger that came their way.

Athlone Town: Michael Schlingermann; Joe Woods, Tommy Barrett, Paul Danagher, Niall Scullion; Brendan Daly, Stephen Relihan, Ronan Stack, Roy King (Brian Gill, 46mins); Colm Smith (Alan Coffey, 77mins), Robbie Murray.
Subs not used: Darren Young, Alex Gardner, Kean Duffy, Ian Sweeney, Scott Gaynor.
Booked: Coffey (82).

Cork City: Mark McNulty; Neal Horgan, Greg O’Halloran, Kalen Spillane, Danny Murphy; Davin O’Neill, Gearoid Morrissey, Vincent Escude-Candau, Derek O’Brien (Jamie Murphy, 72mins); Graham Cummins, Vinny Sullivan (Timmy Kiely, 67mins).
Subs not used: Ian Turner, James McCarthy, Kieran KeneallyJamie Murphy, Simon Holland.
Booked: Cummins (60).

Referee: Rob Rogers.

ExtraTime.ie Man of the Match: Tommy Barrett – a rock at the back.

Attendance: 294.