- Extratime Team
- Sat, Mar 05 2022
Wexford recorded their second league win in a row as they hung on to defeat Athlone Town 2-1 at Ferrycarrig Park courtesy of goals from Harry Groome and Aaron Dobbs.
The opening night of the season provided heavy defeats for both Athlone Town (5-2) and Wexford (5-1) against Waterford and Treaty United respectively. However, before the two sides faced off at Ferrycarrig Park on Friday night, Wexford had picked up their first three points of the season with a come-from-behind victory against Cobh Ramblers last weekend while Athlone’s fixture against Treaty United fell foul to the weather.
Both managers had a shared experience of being on the management team at UCD- Wexford’s Ryan experiencing success with the Under 19s before stepping up to coaching the senior side under both Collie O’Neill and Andy Myler while Martin Russell spent 5 years in charge of the Students and won the First Division title in 2009.
In a first half which they dominated, it was Ryan’s men who took the lead just past the half hour mark. Dinny Corcoran, searching for a century of career goals, had a couple of opportunities early in the game before combining with the returning Aaron Dobbs to set up Harry Groome for the ex Shelbourne Academy product to score his first league goal in senior football, slotting home after Schlingermann had initially denied Dobbs with a fine save.
Shortly after the Slaneysiders had taken the lead, their visitors suffered another blow as young defender Cian Kelly was given his marching orders by referee David Keeler. Athlone’s task was made even more difficult ten minutes into the second half as Enniscorthy native Aaron Dobbs netted his first goal of the season following a Thomas Considine pass. Both goalkeepers showed their considerable experience in the league by making a number of stops in the second half- Athlone’s Micheal Schlingermann denying both Conor Crowley and former teammate Aidan Friel while Wexford’s Paul Hunt prevented Glen McAuley grabbing an Athlone goal.
To their credit, the Midlanders refused to lie down and, following an opening day strike against Athlone, McAuley scored his second goal in two games with three minutes left on the clock to make it a nervy few minutes for the 332 in attendance. However, the home side hung on and sit second in the table, a point behind their southeast neighbours Waterford against whom they face off next weekend.
Wexford FC: Paul Hunt; Paul Cleary, Lorcan Fitzgerald, Len O’Sullivan, Adam Wells, Conor Crowley, Thomas Considine (Aidan Friel 66) , Conor Barry (Conor Davis 59), Harry Groome (Luke Scanlon 77); Aaron Dobbs, Dinny Corcoran (Evan Farrell 77)
Subs not used: Alex Moody, Tyler Dunphy, Joe Manley, Kevin McEvoy, Jordan Tallon
Booked: None.
Sent off: None.
Athlone Town: Micheal Schlingermann; Aaron McBride, Cian Kelly, Noah van Geenan (Andy Spain 62) ; Quincy Nkansah (Cameron Mulready 46), Stephen Kenny, Jackson Hulme (Gary Armstrong 73), Youri Habing, Oisin Duffy; Glen McAuley, Thomas Oluwa (Success Edogun 86)
Subs not used: Sam Krebs, Sami Clarke, Aaron Connolly, Donal Curtin, Daniel Dobbin.
Booked: Cian Kelly (42)
Sent off: Cian Kelly (42)
Referee: David Keeler
Attendance: 332
extratime.com Player of the Match: Len O’Sullivan (Wexford)
