Athlone Town Stadium to Host International Friendly

ATHLONE Town FC's Lissywoolen ground has been selected by the FAI to host an upcoming international fixture. The Ballymahon Road venue has been selected to hold the second of two U19 friendly fixtures against Czech Republic, with the game in Athlone scheduled for Thursday, February 7 (7.30pm). The first friendly will also take place in the midlands, at Longford Town's Flancare Park stadium on Tuesday, February 5 (also at 7.30pm). The game could see recent Athlone signings Ryan Coombes feature for Ireland. Fellow new signing, Niall Lanigan, has also featured for the U19s over the past year or so. Both have featured for Paul Doolin's U19 squad over the past year, with Coombes (signed on-loan by Athlone from St Pat's) been in the most recent squad, which competed in the UEFA U19 European Championships first round qualifiers last October. The U19 squad are currently preparing for the Elite Qualifying Round in June, where they will play Serbia, Slovakia and Switzerland.