Athlone Town -v- Waterford United

• Eoin Manning
• Sat, May 21 2011


Athlone Town welcome Waterford United to Athlone Town Stadium on Saturday night in an encounter which is perhaps noteworthy for the fact that neither club appears to be playing for anything other than pride; even at this early stage in the season. (Kick-Off: 7.30 pm)

The hosts have been forced to to field many of the club’s youth team players as well as contend with recent injuries to important players but a run of three 3-0 defeats in as many games has left manager Mike Kerley in no doubt that his squad needs strengthening.

Linked with a deal to sign former striker Noel McGee in a bid to cure the club’s woeful return in front of goal, along with another former player in the shape of Kevin Dunne, Kerley has made no secret of his desire to desire to bolster his options ahead of the June transfer window.

“I knew Noel well from my time as Limerick manager, and he was someone I had in mind immediately (when appointed manager), but at that time Noel was committed to spending the whole season with St Peter's, and that was fair enough. St Peter's season is almost over now, and Noel has been training with us for the past couple of weeks, and is working extremely hard. It looks like we'll sign him in June, and we're looking at giving him a possible debut against Cork City on June 10... We're talking to quite a few players at the minute, and hopefully we'll get them in June.”

The Blues, for their part, haven’t picked up many results on their travels this season, taking just six points from a possible 15, and will know the importance of a successful trip to Westmeath if they are to retain any faint hope of promotion come October.

Athlone will most definitely be looking upwards rather than over their shoulder this season but face ever more testing times in the coming weeks with many of first team squad sitting their Leaving Cert or college exams and with a team already stretched to it’s limits Waterford can expect to put one over on The Town.

Athlone Town
Injured: Brendan Daly (back), Gary Higgins (hamstring).
Doubtful: Kevin Williamson (Work commitments).
Suspended: Niall Scullion.

Waterford United
Injured: None.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.

Referee: Keith Callinan.
Paddy Power Odds: Athlone Town 15/4; Draw 9/4; Waterford United 8/11.
Extratime prediction: Who am I to argue with Paddy Power? A 2-1 away win.