Westmeath Report

[atfconline]

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).

[parnell ranger]

hope the writer of that piece turns up at the A.G.M this week.

[Ash]

Just noticed Shane Jackson got 4/10.
I've only actually seen him play 3 times this season
and he's been a very weak link in the defence in all
3 appearences.

For a tall fella he gets beaten in the air too often.

[Oh No]

The Westmeath Indo report spells it out as is is and is an excellent report.

As a supporter it's frustrating to be constantly going through all the highs and lows.

I'v said it already that we have a squad capable of winning the league but we lack the killer instinct both with the players and management.

[Éanna]

Originally posted by Oh No
I'v said it already that we have a squad capable of winning the league but we lack the killer instinct both with the players and management.

I've only seen athlone once this season, but i think you're exagerrating there to be honest. Limerick made ye look fairly ordinary and ye were totally toothless up front.

Oh yeah, and your manager will probably spontaneously combust at some stage during the season thus wrecking any chance ye have

[parnell ranger]

The reason id like to see the writer at the A.G.M. is so he can have a go at the people who have turned Athlone into the shambles of a club we are at present.
Having a cheap dig at the players and team management especially when he didnt bother his butt to even attend the game is crass cheek .
Town fans are going to have to get used to the idea that 1-we have no money, 2-a poor side ,3-no facilities,4-priority is the new stadium.
But we do have a manager who is singlehandedly keeping the club in there.
speaking to him recently i was made aware of the enormous task he has and the pressure he is under both running team affairs and galvanising the committee into progressing the club.
He assured me the club is on the threshold of a great future with procedures and planning in place that will bring the club back where it belongs.
The writer of that piece is well aware of whats happening at Athlone Town A.F.C.
Ihope to see him spit the same venom at the upcoming A.G.M.

cheers

[Blueman]

How can he do such a report if he didn't go to the match surely he was there.
But knowing the Westmeath's coverage of The Town over the years it wouldn't surprise me.

Anyone know why the AGM has been put back?

[parnell ranger]

lotsa confusion over original date for agm.
was first set for thursday the 4th but since thurs is actually the 5th was reset for thurs 12th.
The Town were away in a league match that night so its finally set for weds 18th.
i know new blood is required at committee level,be handy if they had a brain too.

cheers

[Ash]

Errrmmm
Silly question but what date is it finally set for? Wed 18th?

I remember the last one they couldnt understand why the low
turnout until it was realised that they never advertised it at all.
They expected the papers to put in the notice of the meeting
even though they wernt notified.

New blood is one thing but I cant help wondering if it would
make any difference. I was approached to get involved a while
back but later it explained to me (cant say by who) when I was
considering going for the board, there are 2 boards. The
Executive Board and the Non Exec. Board

Exec. Board front the cash and make all decisions etc, as you
would expect, and the non exec board are there to make up the
numbers and take the abuse from the people on the street.

It was implied that suggestions made by non exec's often get
shot down with the we're putting the cash so we decide whats
happening.

At one stage I even had non exec members asking me to keep
them informed of things I heard about the club as sometimes they
are kept in the dark!!!

When your up against that I can see why very few people want
anything to do with it.

[parnell ranger]

hearing whispers of major change,should be good A.G.M on weds 18th.

[atfconline]

This week's Westmeath has two dates. Thursday 5th June at 8:30 is on the soccer page. Then there is a little kind of ad on hte previous page with Thursday 19th June at 8:30.

[Ash]

just sent you a private message thing.
Let me know what you think.

[Blueman]

Ya dont think this confusion over dates etc has been done on purpose in order to keep the attendance low.

[parnell ranger]

no,that would involve a degree of intelligence,quite a few of the non exec board want out.

[atfconline]

Can someone explain how the board[s] is/are elected. I was at hte AGM last season, and only half the board was up for re-election. Some of them weren't there, and there was something about block voting or something. They rushed through that, didn't really understand what was going on. Then at the Stadium launch there awhile back, they announced who was going to be the new Chairman, how is that open or democratic?!

[Ash]

As far as I know, Chairman is elected by the committee.

You can be on the committee for a certain number of
years before having to be re-elected. All the available
places on the board havent been filled for a few years
cos of people dropping out etc.

To be elected to the committee you have to be nominated
and then seconded by a member of the club

[Blueman]

For the new stadium they have a new company " Athlone Town Stadium Limted " set up. It is a completely seperate entity from the football club.

The shareholders normally elect the members to the board of directors, the executive board.

The non executive board is there to "advise " the main board but would have no power. The members would be appointed by the main board. This is how it would generally work in PLC's etc. I 'm not sure of the specific workings of ATFC.

Anyone know who the Shareholders are ?

[Ash]

I presume Club Members are Shareholders.
By Club Members I mean those who signed
up for the Club Members Lotto - £100 a year thing