Westmeath Independent
Abysmal Town Go Down In Kilkenny
Kilkenny City.........! (Barry 3, Comerford 38)
Athlone Town........l (Collins28)
by Kevin O'Neill
There are simply no excuses. This was a game Athlone should have expected to win comfortably and coast home with three points. Their recent displays indicated this would be the case. But they failed to perform and lost to an abysmal Kilkenny City outfit at Buckley Park on Saturday night.
It's an all too familiar story. Expected to do nothing -Athlone play. Expected to win -it ends in underachievement and defeat. Just how Athlone can out-play Bray Wanderers and Sligo Rovers at home and then produce a totally inept and unacceptable display in Kilkenny is baffling.
Basically, give or take a few who have eircom League experience, Tommy Lynch has assembled a squad full of good Junior league players. To lose to them is nothing short of ridiculous. Let's not ponder on the fact that Athlone have plenty of young players with potential. And let's not talk about their proposed new stadium for once. Because that's too easy to hide behind. There is no way Kilkenny's collection of average players should beat Athlone. No way whatsoever.
Not too many would question the effort of players. That would be wrong. But a mental problem seems to poison this team. When the Town's players step over the white line, they should expect to win. Not escape from grounds like Kilkenny with a meagre point. They should win. End of story. They should believe in themselves and rip into teams like Kilkenny.
Athlone will never move up the table if they cannot establish some form of consistency. One win in nine games is not enough. There have been four draws thrown in. But it's still underachievement. Then again they'll probably turn around and beat Dublin City on Friday. But you have to ask what's the point doing that if they don't have the willpower, drive and self-respect as footballers to build on it and push on with a positive sequence of results.
Athlone's long-suffering supporters are sometimes very critical. But boy do they appreciate when the team performs and gives them something to smile about. You know. When they show passion and commitment, and grind out results without letting teams walk all over them. Athlone should not be an easy touch for anyone. Especially a shad-rag outfit like Kilkenny.
Conceded
The Town made it hard for themselves when they conceded after just three minutes. Gerard O'Brien foolishly lost possession inside Kilkenny's half and Jim Whelan raced the length of the field to set up lan Barry for a simple tap-in. To be fair, Athlone stepped it up then. Andy Mullan crashed an effort against the bar and Michael Collins hit the side netting when he really should've scored. But he made up for that miss in the 28th minute with a superb volley after Stuart Holt set him up.
Holt was back in the side in place of Michael McCann, who is in America attending his brother's wedding. He was a loss. But Jimmy Greene didn't exactly inspire confidence when he opted to pack the midfield and play one up front (Mullan). Clearly, Athlone play better and function quite well with a 4-4-2. Another ongoing surprise is the continued selection of Shane Jackson ahead of Ronan Frawley, who must be getting increasingly annoyed at being on the bench.
Frustratingly, the Town surrendered the deadlock ten minutes after scoring when Michael Comerford got in ahead of the absent-minded Holt to head home. It followed three straight comers for the home side.
Athlone must have faced an unmerciful rollicking from their manager at half time but it failed to inspire them and in fact, Kilkenny could have stretched their lead in the second half. The Cats were jubilant at the final whistle. Athlone should be embarrassed.
Kilkenny City: Alan Fitzpatrick; Jim Whelan; Damien Maher; Mark Andrews; Anthony Tobin; David Dunphy; Joe Watson; Neil Andrews; lan Barry; Barry Wood; Michael Comerford. Subs: Stephen Murphy for Watson (69 mins).
Athlone Town: David Moran 6; Gerard O'Brien 4; Alan Kelly 6; Des Hope 5; Shane Jackson 4; Stephen Kelly 6; Stuart Holt 5; Michael Hamey 5; Damien Rushe 7; Andy Mullan 7; Michael Collins 8. Subs: Mark Sherlock 6 for Holt (72 mins); John Conway for O'Brien (85 mins). Referee; Mr. E Ban-(Dublin).
