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 13^th 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 17^th 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 25^th 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 56^th 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 60^th 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 75^th 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 86^th 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 90^th 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 94^th 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 95^th 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

Bookings: Duffy (58′)

Attendance: 783

AthloneTownAFC.ie Man of The Match: Dylan Hand

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

City Do Enough To Win In Turner’s Cross

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 12^th 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 41^st 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 48^th 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 68^th 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 84^th 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 95^th minute when Mckenna from the 18^th 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.

Bookings: Hand (75′), Fuentes Rodriguez (93′)

Attendance: 3,084

AthloneTownAFC.ie Man of The Match: Dylan Hand

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 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.

SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division: Cork City vs Athlone Town AFC
Date: March 29th, 2024
Kick-off: 7.45pm
Venue: Turner’s Cross, Cork

Having trailed 3-0 at half time Athlone showed fight and determination to come back and clinch a draw but face a difficult trip to Cork, who have a 100% record at home so far this season. Athlone who have scored the most goals in the league this season have a goal difference of -2 so there is room for improvement from The Town. (Don’t say it, Don’t say it…) Can Castelo’s side turn Good Friday into a Great Friday?

Dario Castelo stated, “There is no easy game in the league and a trip to Turner’s Cross is probably one of the most difficult. I hope we can show the fans what we can do against a great side.”

Team News

Athlone Town AFC Jamar Campion Hinds who is still sidelined with an injury but on the road to recovery. Noah Van Geenen is ruled out also. Dylan Hand returns from suspension. German Fuentes Rodriguez and Carl Mujaguzi return having been away on international duty. Amardo Oakley is suspended.

Past Encounters

Athlone have never really enjoyed playing Cork in Turner’s Cross. The last time we played there against City, we conceded six. But enough of that talk, the last time we played them we came from two goals down to win 3-2 so this tie could go either way.

Key Players to Watch

Athlone Town AFC, Dean Ebbe who dragged Athlone back into the game last week, has been great on his return to the club and has looked really exciting so far this season.

Cork City, Jack Doherty who recently signed for Cork sits top of the goal scoring charts this season. He is familiar to Athlone fans as he scored the only goal in Cobh’s 1-0 win on the run in last season. He will be a handful for the Athlone defence tonight.

Match Tickets
Tickets for the game can be purchased here.

Referee Team
Referee: David Dunne
1st Assistant Referee: Ciaran O’Reilly
2nd Assistant Referee: Phillip Harrison
4th Official: Jason Moore