Women’s Match Preview: Sligo Rovers (H)

Athlone Town AFC return to Avenir Sports All-Island Cup action tonight night, Sligo Rovers are the visitors to Athlone Town Stadium in a game under the lights, kicking off at 7:30pm.

Athlone have started the competition in great form, coming from behind against Glentoran to win 5-2 in Belfast, with a second half rally after finishing the first half 2-1 down.

Sligo have started their league campaign well, picking up an impressive draw away to Shelbourne and Treaty only losing to high flying Galway.

This is the second game in this competition and this tie has the added edge with former Athlone manger Tommy Hewitt now the Sligo Rovers manager. Former Athlone players Kelsey Munroe and Muireann Devaney will be well known to Athlone fans and Casey Howe’s last club before Athlone was Sligo Rovers.

Ciaran Kilduff stated, “It’s great to have this competition on top the league for the girls to get game time. We are expecting a very competitive game and aren’t taking anything for granted.” He added “Last time out we got to see Ciara, Mary and Isabel start the game and Hazel came on as a substitute so it was great for them to get exposed to competitive football.”

Team News
Athlone Town AFC come into the game with a couple of injury concerns. Chloe Singleton is ruled out and Laurie Ryan is a doubt. Ciara Glackin is also back to light training, but this game is too soon in her return to fitness.

Past Encounters
Athlone Town and Sligo have had some entertaining games. This will be the seventh meeting between the two clubs. This game has the added flair of being a cup game.

Key Players to Watch
For Athlone Town AFC Casey Howe has had an excellent few weeks and hopefully her goal scoring run can continue. She has five goals and two assists in her first six games for the club.

For Sligo Rover Emma Doherty is an exciting young talent she will be looking to get on the score sheet.

Referee Team
Referee: Daniel Murphy
First Assistant Referee: Alan Dunne
Second Assistant Referee: Paudie Hayes
Fourth Official: Michael Connolly

Match Tickets
Tickets for the game can be purchased by clicking here.
Adults €10 Concessions €5

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. GROUP D – ATHLONE TOWN V SLIGO ROVERS (loitv.ie)

Match Programme