Published: Wednesday, 3rd March, 2010 5:00pm

Athlone face newcomers once again as 2010 season kicks off

FOR the second season running, Athlone Town provide the opposition for the League of Ireland's newest entrant on the opening weekend of the season, when they travel to Drom, Galway, to play Salthill Devon on Saturday (7pm).

Athlone opened last season's campaign with a 1-0 win over Mervue Utd at Terryland Park and now face the challenge of another league newcomer this weekend.

Athlone manager Brendan Place appears to have significantly strengthened his squad ahead of the upcoming season, with a total of 15 new players added to the panel, including Chris Bennion, Robbie Farrell and Brian McCarthy.

Although Place this week admitted to not knowing too much about Salthill Devon at this stage, Athlone did play them in a challenge match towards the latter part of last season and won 4-0.

Salthill were subsequently promoted to the First Division after finishing last season's A Championship (3rd tier) as runners-up, after Kildare County dropped out of the league altogether. They are managed by Emlyn Long and their squad possesses very little League of Ireland experience, although the likes of Ryan O'Donnell, Brian Geraghty and Sean Murphy have featured for Galway Utd in the past.

Place, who has appointed new goalkeeper Chris Bennion as captain for the season, is determined his players will not underestimate the league newcomers at the weekend.

"We have a bit of previous experience of this sort of thing, having played Mervue Utd in their first ever League of Ireland match last season. That was a tough match and we expect the same on Saturday," said Place, who will this week closely monitor injuries to Stephen Caffrey, Robbie Benson and Tom O'Halloran, before deciding on their involvement on Saturday. New signing David Bracken, however, is definitely not in contention after missing a large chunk of pre-season training with a knee injury.

Bracken did return to action last week and scored in a 2-1 friendly win over Edenderry Town last Friday, with Kevin Dunne netting the other, in a match which saw Athlone field a totally different team to the one that lost 2-1 to Bray Wanderers in the opening round of the Leinster Senior Cup last Thursday (see page 28 for Athlone v Bray report).

"We played Salthill Devon towards the end of last season and beat them comfortably, but I wouldn't put any significance on that. This will be a little bit of a cup final for Salthill and they'll be up for the game. We have to approach the game with a professional attitude and go about our business in the right manner," said Place.

After finishing last season third from bottom, Place feels his squad is definitely stronger this year, and anticipates a far more productive campaign.

"I think we've added some much-needed experience and know-how in key areas," he said.

"Realistically, the relegation of Derry City and Cork City makes the First Division very difficult this season. You also have Shelbourne and Waterford Utd, and then the likes of Monaghan Utd and Finn Harps, who have strengthened as well. So, it makes it a very difficult division, but we're looking to improve upon last season. I don't see any reason why we can't target at least a mid-table finish. Realistically, anything above that would be fantastic," added Place.

Athlone's first home game of the season will take place on Saturday, March 13, against Mervue Utd (kick-off: 7.45pm).

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