Published: Wednesday, 10th February, 2010 5:00pm

Athlone Town edged out by champions in friendly

by Matt Scally

Bohemians 1 Athlone Town 0

An Eoghan O'Shea own-goal six minutes from time handed defeat to Brendan Place's Athlone Town in last Thursday night's pre-season friendly at Dalymount Park.

Athlone put up stern resistance to pressure from the Premier Division champions, and even created a few chances themselves, before eventually succumbing to the late goal.

Without both Noel McGee and Robbie Benson, Town lined out in a 4-5-1 formation, with Shane Dolan, signed from Pegasus, taking up the lone-striker role. Other new faces in the Athlone side included Stephen Caffrey, Mark Nolan and Shane O'Connell, while trialists Alan Keely, Peter D'Arcy and Mark O'Brien also featured. In goal, a debut was handed to Michael Schlingermann, last year's Mayo minor football goalkeeper, who has been signed from Sligo Rovers.

Positives from an Athlone point of view ahead of the new season were the displays of a number players. Tom O'Halloran's second-half performance down the left-wing in particular caught the eye. So too did that off Schlingermann, who looked assured under a high ball, showed good distribution, and pulled off two top-drawer saves. In the absence of Robbie Hamm, who has departed to Australia, the solid performance of Mark Nolan at right-back was good to see, while in centre-midfield, Stephen Caffrey looks to be a good addition.

As expected for a pre-season friendly, the game started at a slow pace with Bohemians controlling possession and keeping the ball nicely. It took 13 minutes for the game's first meaningful opening to arise. And no surprise that it fell to the home team. After Gareth McGlynn was fouled, the resulting free-kick was whipped in with venom by Killian Brennan. Among a sea of bodies in the Athlone penalty-area, it was Des Hope who almost flicked the ball into his own net - the ball flying just wide of the post.

On 17 minutes, an in-swinging cross by McGlynn found the head of Paddy Madden, who looked certain to score from a mere six yards out, but Schlingermann pulled off a fantastic reaction save to tip the ball over the bar. A minute later, a header in midfield by Bohs' captain Paul Keegan released Madden but Des Hope did well to close him down. Madden got to the by-line before whipping the ball across the face of goal where Mark Rossiter was within inches of connecting for what would have been a certain goal.

Five minutes later, Athlone were back under pressure. A ball into the box from Mark Quigley was cushioned down nicely by Madden to Keegan, who flashed a half-volley just wide. The stalemate remained intact until half-time and although it had been Bohs who had made all the running, Brendan Place would have been quite happy with his players.

The resumption saw little change in the pattern of play with Bohs continuing to threaten. A delightful chipped ball to the back post by Keegan found an unmarked Anto Murphy but his diving header cleared the crossbar. On the hour, Madden broke the offside trap only for Dunne to get back well and deny him a shooting opportunity.

Athlone began to find their attacking legs, with O'Halloran exploiting the acres of space afforded him down the left-wing. A drilled ball across the Bohs' goalmouth from O'Halloran should have yielded a goal but neither Robbie Farrell nor Kevin Quinn could connect.

Two minutes later ,though, Bohs' should have been in front when Aaron Greene played a clever one-two with Madden and found himself one-on-one with the Schlingermann. But Schlingermann, continuing his fine performance, got down well to save with his feet.

With 20 minutes to play, Niall Scullion almost gave Athlone the lead but his curled effort from the edge of the box just fell the wrong side of the post. As the clock ticked over to 80 minutes, O'Halloran flew down the left before playing Stephen Place in. His first-time shot was tipped around the post by Chris O'Connor.

Bohs struck for a deserved and decisive goal with only five minutes left. Gary Burke showed some nice skill down the left before playing Aaron Greene to the by-line. Greene pulled the ball back to Madden and although he flicked the ball past Schlingermann, it still needed the touch of Eoghan O'Shea to turn it over the line.

Meanwhile, Athlone followed up the performance against Bohemians with a scoreless draw at Oriel Park against Premier Division Dundalk on Sunday

BOHEMIANS: Barry Murphy, Owen Heary, Mark Rossiter, Brian Shelley, Ken Oman, Steven Gray, Mark Quigley, Paul Keegan, Gareth McGlynn, Paddy Madden, Killian Brennan. Subs: Chris O'Connor for B. Murphy (HT), Aaron Greene for M. Rossiter (HT), Anto Murphy for G. McGlynn (HT), Jason McGuinness for K. Oman (69 mins), Conor Powell for S. Gray (69), Gary Burke for M. Quigley (75).

ATHLONE TOWN: Michael Schlingermann, Mark Nolan, Shane O'Connell, Stephen Caffrey, Des Hope, Alan Keely, Richie O'Hanlon, Mark O'Brien, Shane Dolan, Peter D'Arcy, Austin Skelly. Subs: Eoghan O'Shea for S. O'Connell (HT), Robbie Farrell for S. Dolan (HT), Tom O'Halloran for A. Skelly (HT), Kevin Quinn for P. D'Arcy (HT), Kevin Dunne for A. Keely (49 mins), Niall Scullion for R. O'Hanlon (60), Stephen Place for M. O'Brien (60), Garvan Broughall for M. Nolan (68), Barry Burke for D. Hope (78).

REFEREE: Derek Tomney.

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