- Éanna Mackey
- Sat, Jun 29 2024
Tommy Barrett's Treaty United returned to action on Friday evening after the midseason break but suffered a frustrating 1-0 defeat away to Athlone Town.
Having endured a hapless fourteen-game winless streak, the Shannonsiders had begun to build momentum before the break, winning three of their last four before Friday night.
The Limerick men were also dealt the disappointing news that pacey winger Willie Armshaw was forced to step away from the club for family reasons earlier this week.
In a slow opening quarter, the best chance came by way of the visitor as Yoyo Mahdy attempted an audacious lob from distance, having spotted debutant Andrew Trainor off his line, but his effort drifted well wide.
In the 26th minute, the first real chance of the game fell to Jamar Campion-Hinds, who should have put the Midlanders in front, having driven his low shot narrowly wide. Athlone followed that up with several half-chances as pressure mounted on the Treaty goal.
The Town then took a deserved lead in the 34th minute through Dean Ebbe. Shamrock Rovers' loanee Gideon Tetteh delivered a perfectly weighted lofted pass over the Treaty defence and Ebbe flicked the ball past the onrushing Corey Chambers.
Tetteh should have doubled Athlone's lead on the stroke of halftime. His shot from the edge of the box deflected off Ben O’Riordan and caught Chambers completely off guard, hitting the bottom of the Treaty goalpost before being frantically cleared for a corner.
Athlone continued to dictate play after the restart with Tetteh having another glorious opportunity to double their lead in the 55th minute. Following a slip by Thomas Considine, the winger was clear through on goal but blasted his shot narrowly over.
Just moments later, Mahdy almost restored parity for the visitors as his 35-yard free kick forced a top-class diving save from Trainor. That was to spark a dominant period for Treaty with another glorious chance falling to Lee Devitt in the sixty-eighth minute.
As Treaty pushed for an equaliser, Athlone had several chances on the counter as they searched for a second goal. Meanwhile, the visitors just could not put the ball in the net.
A scramble in the box in eight minutes from time should have resulted in an equalising goal, and that was followed up with another spectacular Trainor save from a Mahdy free kick. From the resulting corner, Aaron Connolly was forced to clear a certain goal off the line as Athlone held on for a 1-0 win.
Athlone Town: Andrew Trainor; German Fuentes Rodriguez, Matthew Leal (Divine Izekor 76), Brian Torre, Noah van Geenen (Shane Forbes 67); Jamar Campion-Hinds (Jamal Ibrahim 82), Aaron Connolly, Oisin Duffy, Dylan Hand, Gideon Tetteh; Dean Ebbe.
Subs not used: Shaun O'Donnell, Ciaran Nolan, Roscoe Rubenstein, Brendan Lauder, Agbo Babatunde.
Booked: Noah van Geenen (25), Matthew Leal (59), Aaron Connolly (85).
Treaty United: Corey Chambers; Alec Byrne (Nikodem Kozlowski 71), Lee Devitt Molloy, Evan O'Connor, Ben O'Riordan; Mark Byrne, Stephen Christopher, Thomas Considine (Leon Kirrane 70), Fionn Doherty, Mark Walsh; Yousef Mahdy.
Subs not used: Michael Dike, Scott Kirkland, Oisín O'Reilly, Adam O'Halloran.
Booked: Yousef Mahdy (55), Evan O'Connor (67), Mark Walsh (86).
Referee: John Walsh
Attendance: 803.
