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

Place targets Mervue game as an early must-win

by Kevin O'Neill

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ATHLONE Town will be looking to build on a solid start to the new Airtricity League of Ireland season when Mervue Utd are the campaign's first visitors' to Lissywoollen on Saturday evening (7.30pm).

Brendan Place's new-look squad - which includes 15 fresh acquisitions - kicked-off the season with a 1-0 away victory over league newcomers Salthill Devon last Saturday, with Austin Skelly netting the game's only goal after ten minutes.

Most observers would agree that another maximum points haul is a must for Athlone this weekend, if they are to be taken more seriously in this season's league.

And manager Brendan Place is inclined to agree.

"I view this game as one we can definitely win and these are the type of matches we must win this year. If we are to make any impression on the table, we need to win these type of matches, particularly at home, where we want opposition teams to know they're in for a really tough game against Athlone. This message will be hammered home to the players," said Place, who was also "relatively happy" with Athlone's winning start against Salthill.

"The attitude of the players was very good and we're pleased to get off to a winning start," he said.

"It was always going to be a difficult game. Salthill's pitch is very narrow and we had plenty of long balls pumped down our throats all night, but I thought the performance of Des Hope at centre-half was outstanding. He's matured so much as a player and is a huge player for us. We could have been out of sight by half-time, although Chris Bennion proved his worth with a tremendous save early on. Salthill might consider themselves unlucky not to get a result, but I think it would have been grossly unjustified if we'd not won that game," added Place.

The Athlone manager also feels his newly-assembled squad needs much more time to gel together.

"There were definitely some plus points but you always feel your team can improve," he said.

"I think the team will bond better and gel together as the weeks go by. We should become a more cohesive unit as the season progresses. But the new signings did well and we look forward to our first home game on Saturday. It's very important we follow-up the win over Salthill with another three points," added Place, who has no new injury worries ahead of Saturday's game.

Place singled out the efforts of Des Hope in central defence against Salthill, and also acknowledged the calming influence of veteran midfielder Stephen Caffrey.

"Stephen Caffrey is a good signing for us. He gives us presence and vast experience in the centre of the field, and he was very important when the going got tough against Salthill. I thought Gareth Kenna was a good foil beside him considering he was playing his first ever League of Ireland match," said Place.

Kevin Williamson, one of only three players from last season that started the game against Salthill, also caught Place's eye.

"I thought Kevin did very well and has a lot to offer going forward. His season was interrupted by injury last year, so hopefully he can play more consistently this season," the manager said.

Of the goalscorer, Austin Skelly, Place said: "I think Austin is a yard quicker this season and definitely sharper. He's very keen to stay in the team because we've plenty of competition up front now."

Such is the level of competition up front that last season's top-scorer Noel McGee didn't even make the match-day squad last weekend.

Place said: "I picked a squad to win the game and felt Austin Skelly and Robbie Farrell would give us what we were looking for up front. They had to work very hard to prevent Salthill's defenders playing balls into the front players, and did that very well. I think Austin and Robbie have a good partnership, but the likes of Noel (McGee), Shane Dolan, who scored a hat-trick in a practice match against St Peter's on Sunday, and David Bracken, who made the bench against Salthill, have major roles to play this season. The squad is somewhat stronger than last season, there's a fair level of competition now, and is probably better equipped to withstand injuries and suspensions, but hopefully we'll have pretty close to a full-strength squad to choose from every weekend."

Saturday's opponents, Mervue Utd, started their season with a respectable 1-1 draw at home to Limerick, and have changed manager this season, with Tom French replacing Johnny Glynn.