SFC Group 1
Athlone 0-12 St Loman's 4-14
Athlone 1-10 Tyrrellspass 1-7
Our seniors completed the group stage of their championship campaign with two games in five days and, despite a very disappointing result against St Loman's of Mullingar in their final game, qualified for the quarter-finals by virtue of a hard-fought victory over Tyrrellspass in Tang on Wednesday.

Against Tyrrellspass, a Mickey Greene goal and points from John Connellan, John Egan, Jordan Marshment, and Ryan Gaffey, allied with an excellent defensive performance, gave Athlone a 1-5 to 0-3 half-time lead.  Further points from Connellan, Daniel Reid and Alan Gaughan kept Athlone in front in the second period and, despite a late Tyrellspass goal, the win was sealed by a late John Connellan free after Noel Mulligan was pulled down when through on goal.

Buoyed by this win, Athlone then travelled to Rochfortbridge on Sunday to take on defending champions, St Loman's of Mullingar.  After an evenly matched opening quarter, a late flurry of St Loman's points gave them a 0-9 to 0-4 lead at the break, and they added to this lead with a goal early in the second half.  Athlone battled bravely to stay in the game, but a second goal, after a fortunate bounce had deceived the full-back line, put the game beyond them and two John Heslin goals in injury time put an undeserved gloss on the scoreline.

Despite this defeat, Athlone's wins over Mullingar Shamrocks and Tyrresllpass and their draw against Garrycastle, meant that they qualified for the quarter-final by finishing the group stage in fourth place (behind Killucan on head to head).  This means that they are due to play Group 2 winners The Downs in the quarter-final, which has been provisionally scheduled for Saturday, September 16th.

Athlone v. St Loman's:  Conor Devaney, Eoin Maher, Tom Egan, Fergal Murray, Damien Kelly, Paul Bannon (0-1), Jordan Marshment (0-1), John Stapleton, Daniel Reid (0-2), Noel Mulligan (0-1), John Connellan (0-6), John Egan, Ryan Gaffey , Alan Gaughan, Mickey Greene  Subs Used:  Jack Quinn (0-1), Matthew Darling, Danny Lynam, Dylan Lynch, David Fagan.

Athlone v. Tyrrellspass:  Conal Sheeran, Eoin Maher, Damien Kelly, Fergal Murray, Noel Mulligan, Paul Bannon, Tom Egan, John Stapleton, Daniel Reid (0-1), Jordan Marshment (0-1), John Connellan (0-4), John Egan (0-1), Ryan Gaffey (0-1), Alan Gaughan (0-1), Mickey Greene (1-1)  Subs Used:  Danny Lynam.

JFC Group 3
Athlone 2-14 Caulry 1-6
A brace of well-taken goals midway through the first half from David Cleary set our junior men on the way to a comfortable win over neighbours Caulry in this junior championship match played in Mount Temple on Thursday evening.  Despite dominating possession in the early stages, Athlone struggled to get on the scoresheet and it took for 12 minutes for them to open their account, when a well-worked move found Cleary on his own behind the defence and he beat the keeper with an emphatic finish.  This settled the Athlone lads and points from Sean Dowd and Cleary followed, before David rounded off a superb personal spell with his second goal.  Further points from Joe Fallon, Diarmuid Martin and Darren Costello gave the visitors a 2-5 to 0-3 lead at the break.

The second half continued in much the same vein as the first, with Athlone controlling much of the possession and playing some excellent football, although they squander several scoring chances through over-elaboration and some poor shot selection.  That said, they did add some fine points, with Tadhg Prendergast, Colin O'Leary, Andy Lynam and Emmet Collins adding their names to the scoresheet, while a youthful Caulry side fought bravely to the end and scored a deserved late goal.  Overall, this was a very good team performance from an Athlone side that has improved considerably from their opening game and that has shown the benefits of well-attended training sessions and a settled squad.

Athlone:  Conor Devaney, Shane Galvin, Andy Lynam (0-1), Eoin Fahey, Eoin Jordan, Rory Donnellan, Michael Doolan, Colin O'Leary (0-1), Diarmuid Martin (0-2), , David Cleary (2-2), Joe Fallon (0-3), Sean Dowd (0-2), Tadhg Prendergast (0-1), Richie Greene, Darren Costello (0-1)  Subs Used:  Emmet Collins (0-1), Cathal Joyce, Sam Omukoro, Aidan St John.

Minor Boys Championship Group 1 & 2
Athlone 3-19 Killucan 1-6
The minor boys qualified for the Minor Championship Group 1 quarter-final when they finished the group stage with a comprehensive 3-19 to 1-6 win over Killucan, in what was their third away game out of three in the group.  Enda Daly opened the scoring, followed by a well-struck 45 from Kieran Colclough.  Killucan replied with a free of their own before Josh Beaumont netted his first goal with an easy tap in. A flurry of points from Daly, Beaumont, Colclough (free), and Stephen O'Connor followed, before David Cleary got Athlone's second goal with superb strike into the top corner from 25 yards.  Killucan replied with a point of their own from play, while O'Connor and Benny Martin replied for Athlone on the stroke of half time.

After Kevin Rowan had gotten Athlone off the mark for the second half, Killucan struck for a goal of their own. However, Athlone responded well and Kieran Colclough reeled off three points from play, either side of another Athlone major, the second of the game for Josh Beaumont. Killucan battled gamely and scored 3 points back to back, but Athlone finished strongly with seven points in a row from captain Shane Allen, two frees from Benny Martin, another two from Colclough (1 '45) and one each from David Cleary and Enda Daly.

The win ensured the lads have qualified for the Division 1 quarter-final, which is provisionally fixed for Wednesday 6th of September. Having finished second in the group, they will go in as underdogs against one of the big guns from the other groups, but a similar level of performance from the lads will give them every chance.

Athlone:  John Duddy; Joe Devins, James Finlass, Patrick Ryan; David Cleary (1-1), Diarmuid Martin, Paddy McGettigan; Shane Allen (0-1), Kevin Rowan (0-1); Stephen O'Connor (0-2), Kieran Colclough (0-7, 2 '45, 1f), Sean Dowd; Josh Beaumont (2-1), Benny Nartin (0-3, 2f), Enda Daly (0-3). Subs: JJ Offorjama, Mark Tallon, Donagh Prendergast, Luke Kelly, Rytis Liaukivicius, Eamon Martin, Anthony Johnson, Aaron Forde, Niall Doolan.

Underage football for boys and girls all ages continues every Sunday at 11.30am.  Everyone welcome or contact David O'Connell at 087 2397519.

Lotto Results:
There was no winner of this weeks €7,200 jackpot.
The numbers drawn were 3-10-21-30.
There were five match three winners.
Tayna & David c/o Amby Fogarty.
Marie Shields c/o Teresa Small.
Gerry Daly c/o Gerry Daly.
Ciara Devaney c/o Padraig Devaney.
Patsy Rafferty c/o Mags Daly.
Next weeks jackpot will be €7,350.

Athlone GAA Bingo:
Bingo takes place in the Clubhouse every Thursday at 8.30pm.  Loads of cash prizes. Everyone Welcome.

Vote of Sympathy:
The Minagh Family, Mayfield Grove.
The Shine Family, Bloomfield Drive.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anam.

Tweet

Most Read Stories