Bray Wanderers 3-0 Athlone Town AFC Friday 5th April 2024
Athlone Hand Bray Three Points
It Athlone who started the brighter of the two teams and the Seagulls did not have to wait too long to take the lead and it came after a crazy few minutes for the Town.
In the 32nd minute of the game, centre back Dylan Hand was dismissed for an apparent kick out at Grogan and referee Chris Sheehan showed the red card to Hand. From the resulting free-kick Griffin beat Enda Minogue at his near post to find the back of the net for the hosts.
Just four minutes later, Athlone could have been level when Ebbe lifted the ball over the bar from a long ball. Bray doubled their advantage when Murphy tapped in from close range after Grogan’s acrobatic effort cannoned off the post following Knight’s cross.
Knight played a wonderful pass in behind the Athlone backline who tried to play an offside trap, and Grogan was on hand to slot into the net.
Bray nearly added a fourth with just under 15 minutes left only for captain Oisin Duffy with a goal saving block on the line.
Goalkeeper Minogue was withdrawn due to injury moments before injury time.
Following match day nine this result drops Athlone to seventh and Bray rise to sixth place.
Athlone Town AFC: Enda Minogue (Andrew Trainor 89), Oisin Duffy (Roscoe Rubenstein 89), Dylan Hand, Jarlath Jones, Matthew Leal (Armado Oakley 46), Brian Torre, Aaron Connolly (Gideon Tetteh 77), Daniel McKenna, Carl Mujaguzi, Dean Ebbe, Jamal Ibrahim (Jamar Campion-Hinds 59)
SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division: Bray Wanderers vs Athlone Town AFC
Date: April 5th, 2024
Kick-off: 7.45pm
Venue: Carlisle Grounds
Athlone have been a real mixed bag this season having started so well in the first game of the season then having to wait until Monday to add to their only win of the season. Athlone who played a great game in Cork and were disappointed not to come away with at least a point also played well on Monday against Treaty United.
This will be Bray’s fifth match in fifteen days, and they have a bit of an injury crisis on their hands so they will be looking get back to winning ways on Friday.
Both teams will have something to prove and with only three points between the two clubs its all to play for on Friday night in the Carlisle Grounds.
Dario Castelo spoke to staff at AthloneTownAFC.ie, “There have been a lot of games in the last two weeks, and we were very happy to get back to winning ways on Monday. It’s important we continue with this momentum and continue to play well for the fans.”
Team News
Athlone Town AFC Noah Van Geenen is ruled out with injury.
Bray Wanderers Max Murphy is suspended, Calum Thompson, Jimmy Corcoran, Darren Craven, Cristian Magerusan and Ben Feeney are all injured.
Past Encounters
In researching this fixture, we went back to October 1997 and in that time Athlone and Bray have played 34 times in that time. Bray have come out on top 20 times there have been 8 draws with Athlone winning 6. Only twice has this fixture ended scoreless in the last 26 years so we are guaranteed a difficult game and goals. The last time we visited Bray we came away with a point having rescued a draw in the 92nd minute scoring from a corner to make it 2-2.
Key Players to Watch
Athlone Town AFC Jamar Campion-Hinds has returned from a long-term layoff and looked really bright on his return. It may be too soon for him to start but he is one to watch.
Bray Wanderers Kilian Cantwell was linked to return to his former club Athlone in the offseason, but the Kilkenny man has enjoyed his time with the seasiders since signing for them, a real leader on and off the pitch he will certainly be a handful for the Athlone forwards to deal with.
Match Tickets Tickets for the game can be purchased by clicking here.
Live Coverage:
The game will be streamed live on LOITV. Individual match passes can be purchased for €5 or viewers can purchase a season pass which will give them access to all games across the League of Ireland.
Referee Team Referee: Chris Sheehan 1st Assistant Referee: Ricky Crean 2nd Assistant Referee: Trevor Cotter 4th Official: Robert Dowling
Here are this month’s EA Sports LOI Academy Athlone Town AFC Players of the Month!
Men’s U14 – Kevin Kilduff
Kevin Kilduff is a rising star in the Athlone Town AFC ranks. His has exceptional technical skills and natural flair. Kevin’s step into the national league with Athlone Town AFC was a seamless transition for a player who, despite his youth, radiates maturity and composure on and off the field.
Men’s U15 – Rhuon Sousa
Rhuon has had a great start to his MU15 campaign, finding the back of the net 3 times in the first 5 games. It is evident that the 14-year-old has settled in to his new surroundings very well having only joined the club in January. Sousa will be hoping to continue his goalscoring form into the rest of the campaign and help his side kick on after their first win of the season against Bray Wanderers before the Easter break.
Men’s U17 – Isaac Ryan
Isaac performed at a consistently high level in the opening five games of the season. The left-back has played a key role in his sides games so far and will be looking to continue the high standards that he’s set himself.
There were several outstanding performances during the month of March with the Women’s u17 team. From Holly Murphy scoring her first hat-trick for the club, Alison Nugent’s battling performances in midfield, to Maeve Wollmer flying down the left wing chipping in with a goal and 3 assists. The one performance that stood out about all was from 14 year old Emma Mooney. Emma started in all 3 games and has been a tower of strength in midfield. Emma showed all her qualities while dominating the centre of the pitch for someone beyond her years.
With the Women’s U19 team, there were numerous outstanding performances during the month of March. With the team winning 4 for 4 games, goalkeeper Julia Gawalkiewicz keeping 4 clean sheets, Hazel Donegan scoring 6 goals in 3 games, to Ciara O’Neill and Michelle Muddiman forming a formidable partnership in the centre of defence. The standout performance for the team was from team captain Lucy FitzGerald. Lucy put in Player of the Match performance in every game. Dominating midfield, scoring 3 goals.
Men’s U20 – Ciaran Nolan
Ciaran has started the season well and has played well in all games so far. Nolan, who plays at centre-back reads the game well and is confident on the ball. The 18-year-old from Mountbellew can also play at centre-midfield when needed and is very good at distrubuting the ball to his teammates from wherever he is on the pitch.
Athlone Town fans travelling to tomorrow’s game against Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds are advised to their get tickets online so they don’t have to queue at the ticket office. Tickets can be purchased here.
The away end is directly in front of the turnstiles. Bray Wanderers have no issues with people going over to the sheltered stand if the weather takes a turn for the worse.
There’s plenty of parking spaces on the streets around the ground. The Bray seafront also has plenty of carparking spaces and there should be no issues with finding a spot.
There’s a small shop in the ground which will have tea, sweets, koka noodles as well as a burrito bar for those looking for some hot food with chips served also. There are some restaurants located on the Bray seafront which is just a stones throw away from the stadium.
There is a no bag policy enforced at the Carlisle Grounds, anyone that brings bags with them will be asked to leave them in the shop beside the turnstiles where they can be collected after the game. Random security searches will take place upon entry to the stadium.
Should any issues arise from your experience at the game or if you have any queries on travelling arrangements, you can contact the Club Support Liaision Officer, Adam Lee via email: slo@athlonetownafc.ie or on X: @ATAFCSLO
Athlone Town AFC 1-0 Treaty United FC Monday, April 1st 2024 – 17:00 Athlone Town Stadium
Athlone Return to Winning Ways
Athlone returned to winning ways against Treaty United in Athlone Town Stadium. A changed kick off time of 5pm so a smaller crowd at the game on the Easter Bank Holiday Monday.
Athlone last time out played well in Cork and were disappointed not to get a point but were determined today to make sure they got something out of the game. Athlone started brightly and put the Limerick side on the back foot from the kick-off. Athlone unleashed attack after attack but had to wait until the 13th minute for the first real chance of any significance. A direct ball from right back Oisin Duffy was won by Dean Ebbe who had drifted between the two centre backs he laid the ball off to Jamal Ibrahim who’s shot from distance was never troubling the Treaty goalkeeper.
Athlone didn’t have to wait long for their next chance when a one two between Carl Mujaguzi and Ebbe allowed Athlone to attack the Treaty goal but it was cleared by Alec Byrne. His clearance was headed back towards goal by the excellent Dylan Hand and it found Ebbe, who timed his run well but Evan O’Connor for Treaty recovered well allowing Michael Dike to make the save.
Athlone were getting a lot of joy from Oisin Duffy’s passing and in the 17th minute. He floated a lovely ball in behind the Treaty defence, finding Aaron Connolly with time and space to smash the ball past Dike. Connolly had timed his run brilliantly and was allowed to get one on one with Dike and made no mistake finding the bottom corner to put Athlone one goal to the good.
Two minutes later Connolly had a chance to get his and Athlone’s second of the evening when he showed great feet to get some space to fire a shot from distance, but it wasn’t to be and it was nowhere near the target.
Treaty were determined not to let Athlone dictate this fixture and in the 25th minute a great bit of work in the middle of the pitch by Yousef Mahdy set Willie Armshaw away who managed to beat German Fuentes, but Enda Minogue was out quick to smother the ball. Moments later Armshaw put in a wonderful cross and found Byrne unmarked about 10 yards from goal whose header was on target and Minogue made a brilliant save downlow to his left to somehow keep the score at 1-0 to Athlone. From the resulting corner Treaty found the Athlone defence sleeping and a set piece from the training ground was well worked and Mahdy will be disappointed he didn’t test the Athlone goalkeeper.
Treaty were in a spell of dominating the game and just before the half hour mark, Mahdy found himself with another good chance and his shot was wide but had Minogue worried for a moment.
Both teams had created a few chances before the end of the half but the best of them fell to Ibrahim who broke behind the Treaty back line and had got his shot away, but it was over the bar. The ref pointed for a goal kick much to the protests of Ibrahim who was adamant that it took a deflection. The replay showed he was correct it was a great bit of defending by Ben O’Riordan who got the last touch on the ball.
Not to be outdone Treaty captain Mark Walsh controlled a corner with his back to goal hit the ball over his head and narrowly missed the top corner. Athlone went into the break leading 1-0.
The second half was similar to the first and both teams were creating chances. Treaty had a great chance to draw level when in the 56th minute from an Armshaw freekick he found Lynch at the back post who couldn’t direct his header on target from a tight angle.
A Treaty corner in the 60th minute caused real trouble for the Athlone defence when Minogue came out to claim the cross had the ball knocked from his hands by his own teammate and Byrne hit a low driven cross which was turned over his own bar by Hand to keep the score 1-0.
Athlone got a but fortuitus in the 75th minute when a long Fuentes ball was chased by Connolly, when Treaty defender O’Riordan slipped, and Connolly tried to drill the ball across the face of the goal to Mujaguzi at the back post but Dike saved magnificently with his foot to keep Athlone at bay.
As the clock wound down Lynch was having some joy with his long throws causing problems for the Athlone defence, but a long clearance in the 86th minute from Duffy gave the substitute Jamar Campion-Hinds something to chase and Dike came well outside his box to win the header but only to find Ruben Candal whose effort from the halfway line narrowly missed the target.
Treaty would throw everything the had at Athlone and in the 90th minute Minogue made a remarkable save when Lynch tried to find substitute Leon Kirrane but the Athlone keeper dived bravely at the attackers feet to stop the attack.
Just when Athlone fans started to look to the referee for the final whistle Treaty started to turn the screw. In the 94th minute from a Lynch long throw from the right, Brian Torre cleared the ball but only as far as O’Riordan who worked it back towards goal and the chance finally fell to Fionn Doherty but it went past the post by inches. Athlone were managing to hold onto the narrow lead but barely.
There was one more throw of the dice from Treaty in the 95th minute this time it was a Lynch long throw from the left. It bounced over everyone and made its way to Enda Curran who dispatched his shot, it was blocked by Jones and deflected onto the arm of Oakley. Treaty players were incensed that they didn’t get the penalty but Athlone were relieved and managed to clear the ball to hang on for the win and a much needed three points
Following match day eight this result lifts Athlone to fifth and Treaty stay fourth in the table.
Athlone Town AFC: Enda Minogue, German Fuentes Rodriguez, Jarlath Jones, Daniel McKenna, Dylan Hand, Aaron Connolly, Dean Ebbe (Amardo Oakley 64’), Carl Mujaguzi (Brian Torre 79’), Oisin Duffy (C), Jamal Ibrahim (Jamar Campion-Hinds 79’), Matthew Leal (Ruben Candal 54’)
Unused Substitutes: Andrew Stuart Trainor, Dylan Gavin, Divine Izekor, Roscoe Rubinstein, Gideon Tetteh
SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division: Athlone Town AFC vs Treaty United Date: Monday, April 1st, 2024 Kick-off: 5pm Venue: Athlone Town Stadium
Last time out in Athlone Town Stadium having trailed 3-0 at half time to Longford, Athlone showed fight and determination to come back and clinch a draw in El Clasico. With a long trip to Cork on Friday, Athlone played well in Turner’s Cross, however were narrowly defeated 1-0 by league leaders Cork City. Athlone started the season well against Wexford but failed to hit the heights of that opening game since.
Dario Castelo stated, “It’s a quick turnaround for our players having travelled to Cork Friday. We showed improvement in the last two weeks, and we hope that we can continue that this Monday and have it reflected on the scoresheet”.
Team News
Athlone Town AFC Jamar Campion Hinds is still sidelined, and Noah Van Geenen is ruled out also. Amardo Oakley returns from suspension.
Treaty United Lee Devitt will serve the final game of his red card suspension.
Past Encounters
Athlone have never really enjoyed playing Treaty having only every beaten them once. They have played a total of 11 times with Treaty winning 7 of those.
Key Players to Watch
Athlone Town AFC, Jarleth Jones has been solid on his return to the club and has looked really exciting so far this season.
Treaty United, nothing is surer that Enda Curran loves to score against his former club Athlone. The Galway native has netted three goals in his last two appearances in Athlone Town Stadium for Treaty.
Match Tickets Tickets for the game can be purchased by clicking here. Adults: €15
Concessions: €10
Children: €5
Live Coverage:
The game will be streamed live on LOITV. Individual match passes can be purchased for €5 or viewers can purchase a season pass which will give them access to all games across the League of Ireland.
Referee Team Referee: Mark Houlihan 1st Assistant Referee: Thomas Joyce 2nd Assistant Referee: Paudie Hayes 4th Official: Marc Lynch
Athlone Town AFC and Shelbourne is growing into a rivalry for the ages. Shelbourne have dominated this fixture in previous years but there hasn’t been much to separate them in the last twelve months. There is a great respect between the clubs but there is a real will to win also.
Athlone started brightly in the game and retained the ball well to early pressure on the Shels defence. The first chance of any significance fell to the visitors when captain Pearl Slattery got onto the end of a corner from the righthand side, and her header never gave Katie Keane much concern as it sailed over the bar.
Athlone were feeling their way back into the game and in the 14th minute, Chloe Singleton recovered possession for the hosts and passed the ball back to Kate Slevin who miscontrolled the ball and gave a way a freekick stretching to tackle Noelle Murray picking up the first yellow of the game. The resulting freekick forced Keane to make a good save by getting across to stop a great shot by Alex Kavanagh.
Athlone had created chances up to this but in the 17th minute they almost found the front, the bright Slevin linked well with Shauna Brennan who crossed well to find Roisin Molloy in the box whose header was narrowly wide of the post.
Both teams were creating opportunities, but the next noteworthy chance fell to Athlone when a Singleton pass set Molloy away on the righthand side and her weighted pass found Kerry Browne who fashioned an opening, but her shot was well saved by Amanda McQuillan.
Shelbourne went in front in the 25th minute. From an Athlone goal kick Christie Gray rose highest to win the header and the second ball was won by Rebecca Devereux who with a lovely piece of skill found Murray who’s looping shot went over Keane and put Shels 1-0 up.
Both teams were playing good football with Shelbourne going in at half time deserving their 1-0 lead.
This was a really good game of football, between two of the best teams in the country, and it was evident at the start of the second half as it was really end to end. Shelbourne could have been two in front just after the hour mark when from a corner Gray’s header from close range pulled a world class save out of Keane to keep the score at 1-0.
There was a real example of leadership from both captains shortly after this chance when there was a ball between Pearl Slattery and Laurie Ryan when both players were down for a lengthy spell after neither player gave an inch in the tackle.
Athlone started to turn the screw and pile on the pressure but there was no real significant chance that had Shelbourne goalkeeper McQuillan worried. As the game started to reach boiling point so did the players when both Keeva Keenan and substitute Madison Gibson were booked for kicking the ball at each other in the 85th minute.
Shels had a chance to put the game to bed in the 90th minute but a piece of brilliance by Murray to get time and space at the edge of the Athlone box was closed quicky but the recovering Jesi Rossman who played brilliantly throughout the game.
The home crowd was boosted by the fourth official signalling eight additional minutes. Athlone pushed forward and finally got their reward with a wonderful goal from Gibson. In the 93rd minute a Kellie Brennan cross was cleared by Shels captain Slattery but only as far as the waiting Madison Gibson who controlled the ball with her chest and her perfectly placed volley gave Athlone a share of the points.
This was a great game of football, played at a breakneck pace with neither team willing to give an inch. Cant wait to see them do it all again in August.
Following matchday three, this result sees Athlone in fifth position and Shelbourne in third. Our next outing is on the 13th of April at home to Peamount United.
German Fuentes and Carl Mujaguzi returned to the starting line-up following their return from international duty and Mathew Leal came into the team for his first league appearance of the 2024 season. But it was Cork who perhaps played the better football in the opening few minutes of the game, however, Athlone were defensively setup well to deal with whatever Cork threw at them.
Cork weren’t getting much time on the ball and Athlone were matching them in the early going. A long ball in behind in the 12th minute gave Nathan Wood something to chase but Enda Minogue was out quickly and knocked the ball out of play and out of the ground. That was the first and only piece of action to talk about in the opening thirty minutes of the game. Athlone were pressing really well and it took a well won challenge on the right hand side from Harry Nevin to set Wood away in a foot race with Dylan Hand, but it was Hand who was the stronger of the two much to the dismay of the Cork forward and the ball went out for a goal kick.
Cork grew stronger in the closing stages of the opening half and a wonderful bit of skill from Joshua Fitzpatrick and a well-placed pull back could have caused problems for Athlone but Dan McKenna cleared the ball well.
In the 41st minute of the game the first big chance of the game fell to Aaron Connolly when, after a good spell of possession for Athlone, saw them shift the ball across the back line and over to Oisin Duffy who looked to misplace his pass to the bright Dean Ebbe, but it actually was a very good weighted pass to Connolly who delayed his shot to make a bit of space, however, his shot was well blocked by Charlie Lyons and Cork cleared the danger.
At half time Athlone would be disappointed that they weren’t going in 1-0 up but in truth there was no gilt-edge chance for either team and it was 0-0 at the break.
Ater three attempts, Athlone got the second half underway playing into the shed end of the ground. In the 48th minute Athlone felt they should have had a penalty, a really good bit of link up play between Connolly and Duffy resulted in what looked a clear foul when Fitzpatrick went to ground and took the Athlone captain down but the ref pointed at the ball and play went on. Down the other end, Mathew Leal was adjudged to have fouled Fitzpatrick and it was a free kick to Cork in a great position. The subsequent set piece saw the ball floated by Bolger to the back post taken well by Minogue who then clashed with Doherty resulting in a free out to Athlone.
Cork broke the deadlock in the 68th minute when, from a corner, Charlie Lyons found himself totally unmarked in the six-yard box and had a free header to put City 1-0 up. Athlone had played well up to this point and matched the league leaders’ stride for stride. The goal was a blow to the Athlone team who had worked hard up to this point.
Athlone weren’t going to lie down and a couple of attacking changes for Athlone saw them trying to get back into it. In the 84th minute of the game saw substitutes Ruben Candal and Dylan Gavin link up on the right-hand side resulted in Athlone winning their first corner of the game. The corner was overhit and the ball went out for a goal kick to City.
Athlone thought they had an equaliser in the 95th minute when Mckenna from the 18th yards out hit a shot which took a deflection and Bradley Wade made a save worthy of an Easter miracle to keep their lead intact. Despite the scoreboard showing Athlone had snatched an equaliser it was not to be for Athlone as City saw the job through to come away with all three points
Following match day seven this result drops Athlone to seventh and Cork sit top of the table.
Athlone Town AFC: Enda Minogue, German Fuentes Rodriguez, Jarlath Jones ( Brian Torre 81’), Daniel McKenna, Dylan Hand, Aaron Connolly, Dean Ebbe, Carl Mujaguzi (Dylan Gavin 81’), Oisin Duffy (C), Jamal Ibrahim (Gideon Tetteh 57’), Matthew Leal (Ruben Candal 69’)
Unused Substitutes: Andrew Stuart Trainor, Divine Izekor, Wedu Reneilwe Batlokwa, Abdul Hassan Barrie, Roscoe Rubinstein.
Following international call ups we welcome back Carl Mujaguzi and German Fuentes Rodriguez to the squad this week.
Carl on his maiden call-up for the Uganda national team made the bench for both friendlies against Ghana and Comoros. Speaking to athlonetownafc.ie “While I am disappointed not to play it was an honour to be called up for my country and be apart of the squad. Hopefully next time I get the chance to get my first cap and represent my country”. Uganda’s next International fixtures are world cup qualifiers against Botswana on June 3rd and Algeria on June 10th.
German received his second call-up for his country having been called up as an unused sub last September in CONCACAF Nations League A games for El Salvador.
A very proud moment happened for German when in the 76th minute of their game against the current world champions Argentina, he came on to get his first international cap gracing the same pitch with household names like Emiliano Martinez, Ángel Di Maria and Alexis Mac Allister.
Unfortunately, they were already losing 3-0 at this stage, but he helped close the door and forced Argentina into long range strikes with a few nice long range passes to help get El Salvador up the pitch and to lift the pressure on their defence.
Speaking to athlonetownafc.ie “What a proud moment it was for me to come on and get my first cap for my county and against the world champions, I could never have dreamed such a moment. They (Argentina) were pilling on the pressure in the final 15 minutes and it was hard work restricting them to long range but I felt we handled it well and we didn’t concede any more”.
German (pictured center) after the match against World Champions, Argentina.
German also got a full half against Bonaire a few days earlier but as Bonaire aren’t recognised by FIFA it wasn’t a capable match. They drew 1-1 after the El Salvador keeper had a howler letting a back pass go under his foot and it ended up in the back of the net.
El Salvador’s next international fixtures are World Cup qualifiers against Puerto Rico on June 3rd and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on June 9th.
Best of luck to both Carl and German and we hope to see them called up again for their respective World Cup qualifiers in June.
Women’s Premier Division Date: 30th March 2024 Kick-off: 7.30pm Venue: Athlone Town Stadium, Athlone
Athlone Town vs Shelbourne has become one of the must-see games on the fixture list in recent seasons. Both teams have faced each other in the last two FAI Cup Finals resulting in a win each. Shels have won the National League on three occasions and really established themselves as the team to beat if you want to have success in the league.
Ciaran Kilduff’s side come into this game after a brilliant comeback win on Sunday in Belfast having trailed at the break. Casey Howe scored two and really showed her potential, securing a place in the Northern Ireland European Qualifiers Squad and we wish her well. Last time out in the League Athlone came up against a very good Boh’s team and got a valuable three points on the board. Shelbourne on the other hand have had a great start to the campaign having beaten champions Peamount last week to go second in the table.
Laurie Ryan said to AthloneTownAFC.ie “We are looking forward to this game, it’s a massive game early on in the season and important that we show what we can do against one of the best teams in the country.”
Manager Ciaran Kilduff said “I’m delighted to have picked up the win last week in the All-Island Cup but it’s important to keep the momentum going in this fixture with Shelbourne, they are a really good side and it’s crucial that we play the best we can if we have any chance to come away with three points.”
Team News
Athlone Town AFC the treatment table for Athlone is becoming a problem with Maddison Gibson, Ciara Glacken and Jenaya Robertson all ruled out. Abby Ciracho has picked up a significant knee injury and likely out for months. Mary Phillips also missed training this week and is likely to miss the game.
Past Encounters
Both teams have played nine times in the league and Shels have dominated the fixture winning seven of those fixtures and scoring twenty times and only conceding four. Add in the 3 cup games and on paper it’s a difficult game for this injury hit Athlone Team.
Key Players to Watch
For Athlone Town AFC Katie Keane has been a superb signing from the club. The first player in modern times to be given a multi-year contract she has kept six clean sheets in her eleven appearances for the club and made some massive penalty saves along the way. She has been included in Dave Connell’s latest u19 squad and it’s only a matter of time before she gets a senior cap.
For Shels Pearl Slattery has won numerous honours with Shels including three league titles, and four domestic cups. She has been a great servant to the club and is the heartbeat of the team. She drives them on from the back and is certainly a player to watch.
