EIRCOM LEAGUE DIVISION ONE

26th November

Athlone 1

CHRIS MALONE 24 [PEN]

Dundalk 1

DAVID CRAWLEY 86

If everything goes to plan and Dundalk are promoted at the end of the current season then they will surely look back on this result last night as definitely a point gained rather than two points dropped. Athlone, who had sacked their manager that morning certainly played unlike a side that is worse than the likes of St Francis and Home Farm. The unpredictability of the team which has lost its manager was never more apparent than last night when the home side battled for 90 minutes against the League leaders.

The Lilywhites started with the same side which defeated Cobh Ramblers in Oriel Park last week. However the visitors started very shakily and should have gone behind when Athlone hit the bar twice in the first two minutes, the first time it was Warren Parkes, the second time Alan Kelly. Dundalk had got off the hook then but proceeded to allow Athlone some more dangerous chances in the half which could have spelt disaster for the League leaders. Peter Finn who was sold by Dundalk after just a handful of first team appearances done well in the Athlone midfield which was the better of the two midfields in the first half.

David Ward did have a good chance after 10 minutes but elected to shoot on his left and the final shot was tame and saved low down by Gary Connaughton. If he had taken it on his right he would have scored. Only a few short minutes afterwards he had another chance on his right but paused and the chance was gone. Anto Reilly was ineffective alongside Ward as the Athlone centre backs won the battle in that area of the pitch. John Flanagan was the best Dundalk midfielder in the first half and nearly got on the end of a Brian Morrisroe cross after a good move after 15 minutes that also involved Tom McNulty. Yet it was to be the midlanders who went in front on 24 minutes. John Whyte was adjudged to have pulled back the Athlone left winger as he made his way into the box. Without a doubt there was contact but the main foul seemed to have been committed outside the box. The Athlone attacker helped his cause by moving into the penalty area before falling. Chris Malone stood up and gave John Connolly no chance.

Padraig Gollogley almost gifted Warren Parkes a second ten minutes later. He made a mess of an attempted clearance and let Warren Parkes in behind him but John Connolly advanced to close the angle and stopped Parkes' low drive. This crucial save sparked a mini Dundalk comeback before half time which forced a few corners but nothing came of it, only a disallowed goal. Campbell had also come close with a 25 yard free kick. However at half time it was 1-0 to Athlone and Terry Eviston decided to replace Anto Reilly and Tom McNulty with Brian Honan and David Hoey. Hoey came in on the right wing with Campbell moving into the centre alongside Flanagan. Honan slotted in alongside Ward up front.

The second half was poor stuff. Chances were few and far between as the Dundalk defence tightened up but the attack failed to break down the stubborn Athlone rearguard. David Ward got behind the defence from a Brian Honan through ball but was adjudged to be offside. The terrible pitch made it a lot harder to play passing football so a lot of the time the direct route was chosen. Brian Honan did not win much in the air for the first 35 minutes of the half, later on in the half when Dundalk came back into it he was involved in most of the moves. The first 35 minutes of the half in fact were spent in the middle of the park as the players toiled and tried to make an impression. Athlone tried to make inroads down their right wing as Brian Morrisroe was having a poor match and letting the right back roam forward. Morrisroe was replaced by Paul Whelan with 10 minutes left as a frantic last throw of the dice. Ward was moved to the left wing with Whelan going up front alongside Brian Honan.

The Dundalk goal came with 4 minutes left. A David Crawley free kick from inside the Athlone half was aimed towards the edge of the box where Padraig Gollogley was knocked over by Alan Kelly. It was hard to see what happened but it appeared to be a nasty incident as Gollogley writhed in agony and Kelly was summoned by the ref. By the players reaction it seemed like a red card was imminent but a yellow card was all that was given. However Dundalk fans had forgotten all about that seconds later when David Crawley stood up and just like in Gortakeegan curled a left foot beauty over the wall and into the top corner of the net off the crossbar. What followed was amazing. The Dundalk side which had lacked any sort of liveliness or urgency during the match suddenly started bombarding the Athlone defence with crosses and started to open them up. First of all some good exchanges down the right between Hoey and Honan led to the ball being crossed dangerously into the path of Paul Whelan whose first time shot was headed for goal until Gary Connaughton pulled off a marvellous save. The resultant corner was headed agonisingly across the six yard box by Flanagan and no Dundalk attacker could get a touch on it. Then, in injury time Brian Honan picked up the ball outside the box and slotted it into the path of David Hoey who had plenty of room for a shot but sliced it well wide. A win which would not have been deserved, was nearly achieved by a side who were lucky to get a point.

Maybe now we are getting the luck that deserted us in the first week of the season when we lost three games we deserved to win or at the very least draw. Last night was really just a poor display by a side who were probably too confident going into the match and were stunned by the Athlone resurgence on the evening. The Dundalk back four had a good second half, Flanagan was probably the best of the rest but apart from that no-one could really hold their head high after the match. It is hard to believe that was the Lilywhites' first draw of the season but it was definitely a hard fought point. The performance will have to improve dramatically for the visit next Saturday of Bray Wanderers in a top of the table clash. The only consolation from tonight was that Dundalk put in arguably their worst performance of the season and still didn't lose.

DUNDALK FC

1 John Connolly 7

2 John Whyte 6

3 David Crawley 7

4 Tom McNulty 5

5 Padraig Gollogley 7

6 Noel Melvin 7

7 John Flanagan 7

8 Paul Campbell 4

9 David Ward 5

10 Anto Reilly 4

11 Brian Morrisroe 4

SUBS

13 Brian Honan 5 for Reilly

17 David Hoey 5 for McNulty

12 Paul Whelan 6 for Morrisroe