Derry 12-2 in Blarney of course. Only recently.
Result now. Weird one - Filippo with a point to prove after an indifferent run of form? Or Athlone just utter rubbish?
Yes previous biggest win was by 10 goals. Though Derry scored 12 once. Even I'm feeling sorry for Athlone now that's enough.
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
Derry 12-2 in Blarney of course. Only recently.
Result now. Weird one - Filippo with a point to prove after an indifferent run of form? Or Athlone just utter rubbish?
Ian Morris did not enjoy that!
Irish by birth ,Harps by the grace of god.
That an embarassment to the league ,no team {even a div 1 team who finished almost bottom of their league}should lose by that score,Derry did beat Blarney 12-2 but Blarney were a junior outfit so anybody making excuses for that pitiful effort are fooling themselves,Athlone looked an absolute shambles in terms of organisation and fitness,tactically crazy setup which Dundalk had showed up 15 mins in.To be fair to Dundalk very professional performance all game but thats not the sort of history we want to see in our premier cup competition, athlone manager talking about starting a journey in interview afterwards he,s kidding himself.On another note what are Shels at.
Dundalk should be ashamed of themselves, taking the foot off the pedal like they did
In the Cup "proper", yes, but in the Qualifying Cup 1st Round on 6 Nov 1926, Cobh Ramblers knocked in 14 against Shandon without reply. I suspect there are others in "non-League" rounds later, but I haven't the time at the moment.
Coincidentally, McEneff, the only scorer in other SF today, got one of two hat-tricks in the Blarney-Derry match in 2018.
Data if anyone wants it:
St James's Gate 0-10 Dolphin in 1932 (10 Jan)
[Shiels 5, McKay og, Patterson 2, Stevenson 2]
Rialto 1-11 Waterford in 1972 (13 Feb, Kilcohan Pk)
[Demsey; Hale 5 (1p), Kirby 3, Matthews, Humphries 2]
Blarney United 2-12 Derry City in 2018 (11 Aug, O'Shea Pk)
[David Welch, Conor Cronin; Ronan Hale 4, Aaron McEneff 7, 31, 45, Ally Roy 8, 20, 38, Rory Hale 42, Shane McNamee 12, 53, Cathal Farren 70, Kevin McHattie 77 (McEneff m/pen)]
Hard to know which is more embarrassing! Athlone losing 11 nil OR the team at top of the premier with masses of cash have a crapper ground than the team bottom of the FD.
Manager: Fergal, have you your boots with ya?
Fergal: Ya, I have them here.
Manager: Ah good stuff, well give them to this man so, he forgot his!
It's a very nice stand in Athlone indeed, tbh it's the first time that I have taken notice that are not a few pictures that dont do justice. I dont think the pitch is artificial unless new enough but if its a grass pitch it is in top class condition. It's certainly where Harps can hope to get with their project.
As for Oriel Park, it is both the fly in the ointment and is the ugly sister that ye wont have anyone say it out loud even though you know it is true!
It is an artificial pitch as far as I'm aware. There was talk of the play off final being played there but one or both teams didn't want to play on the artificial pitch.
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
Was some talk of why an artificial pitch couldnt have been installed on ground outside the main area, keeping the grass pitch or have I mixed that up with another club? Either way it still looked the better of the artificial surfaces in the league.
Its a pity Athlone havent kicked on over the years. That stand was a major millstone around the neck until the stadium debt was cleared by an unknown benefactor but they havent made use of that opportunity really.
Just watching the game again, opposition aside, there is a definite upping of tempo in the Dundalk passing which had been laboured when the league resumed. Playing it out short continues but it is mixed up after that with the occasional long ball or crossfield pass. The way the wide men went both inside and outside has helpd with being less predictable also. Looking forward to this week's football. Hopefully the game v Molde wont have a major impact on the cup final and that game time = sharpness rather than fatigue. Depending on who lifts the cup will determine that ;p
General question for people - is it useful for a young side to get hammered like yesterday, to see what sort of level they need to get to or completely sould destroying. Thoughts?
Last edited by Nesta99; 30/11/2020 at 11:46 AM.
At least 90% of them will never be good enough to reach that level no matter how hard they work so I don't think it'll do them much good at all to be honest.
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
Athlone have one fantastic stand, but it's a horrible watch of a barren ground otherwise.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
I went to an Athlone match a few years ago and id agree with Nigel its a pitch with one decent stand and nothing else.
Id rather have small terrace all around then one stand.
Confidence and momentum are huge, even though Athlone are awful DFC players will benefit from this run out given the poor run they are on.
Rovers havent convinced since coming back from the "mini covid" break so the cup final is hard to call.
Aaron Greene and Pico both missed yesterdays match
Went to Athlone for a game against Shamrock R few years back, Pat Fenlon first in charge I think. The guy at Bohs now was the Athlone manager. Nice stand indeed, and I really liked the little tea/coffee shop underneath. However I agree with others, that the ground needs further development. Way too open and barren feel to the place, and that was a nice August evening. Because it was a night game, that aspect of the ground didn't come across on telly last night I suppose.
Is there a suggestion there that Oriel Park would be preferred?
Gary Cronin is he the right man to manage Longford Town?
I hadn't really watched Dundalk very closely outside of our games under Perth, but it seems like what you're describing above is Dundalk in 2019? Perth obviously has different ideas about football than Kenny and would play more direct, did that change in the first half of this season?
As for the kids being destroyed, I think it will certainly have an effect but they've been hammered before, albeit not this badly. I'm sure there are few players in there who will learn and grow as players from it. Ronan Manning in particular looks like he's destined for better things.
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