Next Match: 24th March 2007 Athlone Town - Wexford Youths

For those of you wishing to travel here is the location of Athlone Town ground..

Athlone Town Stadium, Lissywoollen, Athlone, Co. Westmeath

I will try and get more details on exactly how to get there for those who dont know.. If you can help out by telling me it would be great.. Being in England has its disadvantages :(

Also I am hoping this great rollercoaster climbs even higher.... Another win?
Personally... I, once again, will be happy with a draw away from home... but who knows..

The lads and everyone to do with Wexford Youths FC have already set the league alight and doing better than expected!

Keep going lads!!!

Prediction.... 1-1

Not too sure how to get to it but it's just off the bypass, on the left hand side before you go over the shannon. Looked very impressive.

From East*:

Approaching Athlone from the East (N6), join Dual Carriageway at eastern end. Leave Dual Carriageway at Exit No. 2. Turn left on leaving Dual Carriageway. Take first exit off Athlone RSC Roundabout (50 yards). Continue on this road until you see Athlone Town Stadium on your right.

*I'm presuming you should be coming in on the main N6 Dublin road coming from Wexford, up through Portlaoise, Tullamore, Kilbeggan etc?

whos going to the match?? Obvioulsy I cant :(

If someone is going can they pick up a program for me please.. and post it onto me in England? Or am I best emailing Athlone FC directly?

Match Preview available at www.athlonetownfc.com.

Match programmes will be going on sale on the website soon Taz.

Can't make it to this game unfortunately.

Should be a real test, a win or draw would suggest top half is not an unrealistic goal for the season. A defeat might suggest a bit more of a struggle.

The next two games will reveal an awful lot considering Athlone and Limerick have made identical starts to ourselves.

I'm going to go for another hard fought draw, 1-1 would be a great result.

Gary Murphy and Lloyd Colfer are left out of the squad, Stuart Dunning and Jason Murphy are in.

If we get anything from this game I'd be very happy.

Heard that too Forza. Hopefully we'll give em a game and get a good result

Was gonna head up,had a lift an all but Park Hotspur are in the cup semi-final,have to support the lads!

ah North End's where its at :D

****en Scum gonna get relegated.haha

Good luck to Wexford and new members of squad. Colfer looked very promising when he came on and is my tip to be a top player when he fimds his feet in new setting.Great skill but needs a litle more steel to his game.

How many of ye coming down?

Todays Result is 0 - 3 loss...

Post all reports and views please... :)

Yes it was a huge loss but still well done lads.. still proud!!

Was standing beside Mick Wallace on train after Ireland game yesterday. Bit of worthless info for ye there:D.

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Originally Posted by sligoman

Was standing beside Mick Wallace on train after Ireland game yesterday. Bit of worthless info for ye there:D.

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He was probably doing on a scouting mission for the Youths...

... in which case he wont have seen anyone of interest! ;)

edit: sorry, mean to do a wink not a sticking out of the tongue thingy :)

Lets not get too disheartened its only our first defeat and Athlone will be challenging for promotion.

Lets forget about this and concentrate on our next two matches which are both at home

Brilliant win fro Athlone and bit of a training exercise second half......Role on Dundalk and longford.

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Originally Posted by Thunder-WYFC

Lets not get too disheartened its only our first defeat and Athlone will be challenging for promotion.

Lets forget about this and concentrate on our next two matches which are both at home

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My sentiments exactly Thunder. It's early days yet and we still need to get right behind the lads for the next couple of home games. We're a young club, still learning the ropes, but as Mick said, we've got great team and community spirit here, so lets regroup for the next challenge.

We are Wexford Youths!

irishfootballonline.com
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Wexford Youths suffered their first loss since joining the eircom League of Ireland. Today they were well beaten by an Athlone Town which has moved second in the First Division and set up an early top of the table clash with Dundalk next Thursday night.

Athlone got a slightly fortunate opening goal at Lissywoollen when Colm Heffernan's 35th minute free kick from distance eluded everyone and ended up in the Wexford net.

Noel McGee made it 2-0 as Athlone made their dominance count on 52 minutes. He got in to fire home after Paul McTiernan's free kick caught out the Youths defence.

John Flynn was forced to go in goal for Wexford in the closing ten minutes after first choice keeper Jason Russell went off injured. David O'Dowd got in to make it 3-0 in the closing five minutes as he connected with a Heffernan cross.

Athlone Town : O'Leary, Rossiter, Young (Casey 59), Frawley, Sheridan, Harty, Gavin (Lavine 70), Byrne, McGee (O'Dowd 70), McTiernan, Heffernan.
Wexford Youths : J Russell, A Russell, Sinnott, Kelly, Brosnan (Bolger 68), O'Loughlin, Elmes (Murphy 58), Flynn, Malone (Fitzpatrick 58), Larkin, Lawlor

Mick Wallace gives his always intersting views in the Wexford people.

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A bad day at the office

I have always been very conscious of the fact that without the bad days the good days wouldn't be so good, writes Mick Wallace.


But knowing that doesn't really do much for you when the bad arrives. Of course it was disappointing to lose 3-0, even if Athlone were the better side.


The draw away to Monaghan and the win at home to Cobh amounted to a great start - the stuff that dreams are made of.


Of course a good beating was never going to be far away. I suppose the most disappointing element was the manner of the defeat. There are two aspects to it.


Firstly, we didn't really get the breaks on the day, and secondly we didn't deserve the breaks on the day.


Athlone were excellent in the first 20 minutes and were unlucky not to score. We weathered the storm, got into the game and began to look as if a result wasn't beyond us.


Then we gave away a poor goal from a free-kick that shouldn't have been awarded. The referee was a bit over-fussy and Athlone were more experienced at winning frees than ourselves.


Early in the second-half, we conceded a second. Our naivety was exposed again when Athlone won a free-kick, took it quickly and before we know it, one of their strikers was racing in on goal alone - 2-0.


The Wexford Youths rallied a bit - Johnny Flynn-O'Connor should have scored but didn't.


We introduced Jason Murphy, Diarmuid Fitzpatrick and Timmy Bolger in order to freshen things up a bit but it remained a difficult day.


Late in the game we lost 'keeper Jason Russell with a toe injury, had used our full quota of substitutes and were forced to play out the last ten minutes with ten men.


Johnny Flynn-O'Connor was doing fine, heading for a clean sheet, but just before the end, number three arrived for the home side.


It's not the end of the world even if it felt a little like it when I woke up this morning. The part that disappointed me the most was that, as a team, we didn't seem to be as well prepared mentally for the battle at hand as we had been the previous days.


As manager, I have to accept a large portion of the blame for that. It's very important that the players realise that there is just no room for any complacency on the field, or off it.


Nothing less than 100 per cent when it comes to training, liquid and food intake all week, getting the proper sleep and when the match arrives, playing for 90 minutes as if your life depends on it.


I know that there is more to life than football - I have five hectic days ahead of me right now and it has nothing to do with football.


But anything worth doing is worth doing to the very best of one's ability and I for one have no interest whatsoever in half doing anything.


I genuinely believe that we have a moral responsibility to always maximise our potential. Anything less is not good enough.


Sunday's League of Ireland game against Limerick 37 will kick off at 3.30 p.m.


On Monday, we play away to Waterford in the League Cup at 7.45 p.m.

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Article taken from Unison and can be viewed here

Cant knock the guys passion and commitment :)

Go Mick!!

good honest assement from Mick. One man who will call a spade a spade and not bluff like a lot of managers these days.

I always enjoy reading what Mick has to say. He gives a good clear picture of how the match went. Fair play. This kind of article can only stir the players up for a reaction of the positive kind