Men’s Match Preview: Cork City (H)
Date: 31st of May 2024
Kick-off: 7.45pm
Venue: Athlone Town Stadium
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of this much-anticipated match.
Both teams come into this game having won two of their last five fixtures. Athlone’s last defeat came at the hands of Bray Wanderers, but two draws from winning positions in the last two games has Athlone fans worrying.
Athlone Town are the in-form team behind Cork and they sit in third place on twenty-seven points. Cork won the last time we played (Click Here To Read About It) but it was the start of a turnaround in form for Athlone. Athlone are twelve points behind Cork and this is the last game in the second round of fixtures, so a win would put us in a good position at the half way point.
Coming into the game, AthloneTownAFC.ie spoke to manager Dario Castelo and he gave his thoughts on the fixture.
“We played a great side in UCD and now we play another good team in Cork. We started well but it was a difficult game, this week we know if we play how we can, we can create problems for any team.”
Team News
Athlone Town AFC have a couple of injury concerns, Enda Minogue picked up a knock during the game last week and a missed training so is a doubt. Noah Van Geenen is being eased back to play and Dan McKenna is suspended.
Past Encounters
Athlone and Cork have only played 19 times since 2010 and on paper it doesn’t look good from an Athlone perspective. Athlone have only won three of those 19 games and conceded 50 goals, so it is a tough task for the home side. On a positive note, we were unlucky not to get a point in Turners Cross earlier in the season and beat them the last time we played in Athlone Town Stadium, albeit Cork had already won the league at that point.
Key Players to Watch
For Athlone Town AFC, Brian Torre has been getting better every week, he is good on the ball going forward and his positioning is top class. Its only a matter of time before he gets his first goal for the club.
Cork City Jack Doherty is on the return from injury and he has five goals already this season is a midfielder that can hurt the home side if allowed time on the ball.
Match Tickets
Tickets for the game can be purchased by clicking here.
Adults €15 Concessions €10 Children €5
Follow the Athlone Town AFC channel on WhatsApp: Click Here for The WhatsApp Channel
Live Coverage:
The game will be streamed live on LOITV at the below link. 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.
ATHLONE TOWN V CORK CITY (loitv.ie)
Referee Team
Referee: Eoghan O Shea
1st Assistant Referee: Niall McLoughlin
2nd Assistant Referee: Christopher Daly
4th Official: Marc Lynch