Athlone fall to surprise loss

Despite being short a couple of key players, Coralstown/Kinnegad eked out a precious brace of Westmeath senior football championship points in Moate on Friday evening last with an unexpected, but thoroughly-deserved, win over table-toppers Athlone. Jack Cooney's troops entered the game pointless and in dire need of a positive result against the Shannonsiders. A blistering start set the red and whites en route to a significant victory and they are now in pole position to avoid a relegation play-off, with a draw being sufficient for them in the last game against the 2009 Flanagan Cup finalists, St Loman's, Mullingar. In turn, Athlone must now beat new table-toppers Killucan in the final group game to qualify directly for the semi-final, although, they have already qualified for the quarter finals. It was clear from the outset in Hogan Park that Coralstown/Kinnegad were fired up for this vital encounter and they dominated most of the play for the opening 20 minutes, racking up an unanswered five points during this period, as the hitherto-unbeaten Athlone men failed to generate any sort of rhythm. A quickly-taken free from Alan Giles teed up an alert Eamonn Fleming for the opening score in the fourth minute. Both sides missed a decent chance before Giles converted a 25-metre free and Mark Gorman followed up with a great catch and shot in the one movement to put the winners 0-3 to 0-0 ahead in the 11th minute. With Damien Kelly a rallying force at centre half back, two rare Athlone breakaways ended with Barry Mooney keeping out Dermot McManus' shot for a goal and a somewhat fortuitous block by a Coralstown/Kinnegad defender from Alan Gaughan's flicked effort. Just past the midpoint of the half, Stephen Bracken rounded off a patient move with a well-taken point from 40 metres. With almost 20 minutes elapsed, Wayne Fox took a '45' short to Eamonn Fleming who duly set up Alan Giles for a fine point. With just a minute of normal time remaining in the first moiety, the lads in the sky blue and white hoops got on the scoresheet when Joe Fallon lobbed over a 20-metre left-footed free from the ground, after Tom Stuart-Trainor was fouled. The latter player gave the losers real hope deep into injury-time, when he finished a great move involving substitute Mickey Greene and John Connellan by flashing a left-footed shot past Barry Mooney via the underside of the crossbar. Wayne Fox was wide from a '45' with the last kick of the half, leaving Athlone flattered to be just a point in arrears at the break, trailing by 1-1 to Coralstown/Kinnegad's 0-5. Mickey Greene was already adding to Athlone's firepower, but Joe Fallon was just off-target after an early foul on Greene on the change of ends. Less than six minutes into the second half, the winners struck for an opportunist goal by Stephen Bracken who pulled on the loose ball, after the Athlone defence failed to clear their lines. Team captain Joe Fallon rallied his charges with a great point from his weaker right foot. Mickey Greene was unlucky to see his effort come back off the woodwork, before Mark Gorman's low shot almost crept under Scott Gaynor. Joe Fallon was wide from a needlessly-conceded '45', but a generally off-colour John Connellan soon reduced the deficit to two points from a 25-metre free. Athlone substitute Aidan St. John kept his side in touch when he held Alan Giles' goalbound shot, while in another Coralstown/Kinnegad attack, substitute Joe Kenny hit the side netting. A great point on the run from Alan Gaughan left the bare minimum between the teams as the minutes ticked away, but fine play by the effervescent Jason Lynch precipitated a move by the red and whites which ended with Mark Gorman firing over an insurance point. With exactly the half-hour up, Gorman and Athlone's Adam Ward were dismissed following a brief skirmish. Both sides had late chances but were unable to add to their small totals. Coralstown/Kinnegad: Barry Mooney; Jason Lynch, Ronan Doyle, Cillian Foley; David Kilmartin, Wayne Fox, Derek Griffin; Cian Flynn, Stephen Bracken (1-1); Ronan Foley, Eamonn Fleming (0-1), Alan Giles (0-2, 0-1 from a free); David Flynn, Mark Gorman (0-2), Jason Cully. Subs: Joe Kenny (for Flynn, 53 mins), Andrew Cannon (for Cully, 58). Athlone: Scott Gaynor; Davy O'Neill, Paul Mullen, Fergal Murray; Noel Mulligan, Damien Kelly, Adam Ward; Paul Bannon, Alan Gaughan (0-1); Alan Kelly, Tom Stuart-Trainor (1-0), Dermot Bannon; Joe Fallon (0-2, 1f), Dermot McManus, John Connellan (0-1f). Subs: Kevin Macken (for Ward, 23 mins), Mickey Greene (for D.Bannon, 29 mins), Aidan St John (for A.Kelly, 37 mins), Adam Ward (for Mullen, inj, 47 mins), James Tobin (for P.Bannon, inj, 57 mins). Referee: Brendan Keena (Ballynacargy).