Athlone Town add Bracken and Nolan to first team squad

ATHLONE Town manager Brendan Place has this week added further to his squad of players for the upcoming 2010 League of Ireland season. The most recognisable of the latest trio of signings is former Bohemians and Dundalk striker David Bracken, 22, who joins the club from Leinster Senior League outfit Lissadel Celtic. Bracken, who was capped at under-21 level in 2007 at the Madeira Tournament, has also played with Glenavon in Northern Ireland, but failed to make any impact after signing for Sporting Fingal last season. During his earlier career, the forward was highly rated at Bohemians and top-scored for their under-21s in 2005, but never managed to establish himself at Dalymount Park, before having a loan spell at Dundalk, and subsequently joining Shelbourne, where he played mainly with the Tolka Park club's under-20 team. Bracken is joined at the club by Shane Nolan, who signs from Belgrove, while local favourite Niall Scullion has also rejoined after impressing in pre-season training, which began last week. Scullion impressed while playing on the right wing for Athlone in 2008 but a catalogue of injuries forced him out of last season's campaign. He was most recently playing with St Peter's in the Combined Counties Football League and will be hoping his injury difficulties have abated enough to make a real impact on the Athlone team this season. The signings of Bracken, Nolan and Scullion takes the number of Brendan Place's pre-season acquisitions to nine. Former Dundalk goalkeeper Chris Bennion and veteran defender/midfielder Stephen Caffrey have added plenty of experience to the squad, but it remains to be seen how his less-experienced signings, the likes of Mark Nolan (Bohemians), Richie O'Hanlon (Crumlin Utd), Kevin Quinn (Shamrock Rovers) and Brendan Turley (Shelbourne), will adapt to League of Ireland football. Place has so far confirmed the signings of 21 players ahead of the 2010 season, but this list includes several very young players such as Kevin Horan, Ronan Stack, Sean Brennan, Stephen Relihan, Scott Gaynor and Padraig Gilsenan. Fellow youngsters Robbie Benson, Kevin Dunne and Tom O'Halloran gained plenty of valuable first-team experience during last season and have also re-signed for the club, as have experienced duo Des Hope, who was last year's captain, and forward Austin Skelly. Robbie Hamm and Anthony Hayes have definitely left from last season's squad, while midfielder Mark Salmon also looks unlikely to re-sign after recently linking up with the newly established PFAI Training Camp for out-of-contract players. Athlone's first pre-season friendly is pencilled in for Saturday, February 6, against Premier Division Dundalk at Oriel Park. Meanwhile, Athlone are also pencilled in to face a PFAI Training Camp out-of-contract players' selection this coming Saturday.