Published: Wednesday, 7th April, 2010 5:00pm

Ten man Athlone hang on to earn a point away to Mons

Monaghan Utd 0 Athlone Town 0

Athlone Town survived the second-half sending off of midfielder Gareth Kenna to secure a point in this dour Good Friday encounter with Monaghan United at Gortakeegan.

Kenna was red-carded by referee John Grimes in the 67th minute for a flying challenge on Monaghan substitute Darragh Hanaphy, who was stretchered from the field after only four minutes of participation.

Athlone survived one or two scares to tough it out to the finish. But they might have had more from a game in which they enjoyed the majority of first-half possession but were very ineffective near goal.

Their best chance came as early as the 7th minute, defender Brian McCarthy powering a header from Stephen Caffrey's corner across goal to cannon off the post with United keeper Gabriel Sava beaten.

Athlone's forceful, high-tempo play in the early part of the game kept United penned in their half. Des Hope, who had stayed forward from a corner, lobbed a volley over Sava's goal in the 10th minute. Ten minutes later, Richie O'Hanlon's powerful run carried him to the edge of the box but he ballooned his shot harmlessly off-target.

Despite their possession, Town failed to create quality chances for forwards Stephen Place and Austin Skelly. At the midpoint of the half, Skelly dropped deep to collect and strike a speculative shot which saw Sava scramble anxiously to claim the ball at the second attempt.

Although Monaghan midfielder Alan Byrne went close with a header from Barry Clancy's corner in the 21st minute, United were mostly on the defensive.

They were stretched to the limits when a Caffrey corner led to mayhem in the box in the 25th minute, Aidan Collins eventually relieving the danger with a towering clearance. A deflected Kenna drive led to another Athlone corner, but this time Sava made a confident claim amid a forest of players.

Having survived an anxious first-half hour, United found some composure with a deft interchange between Byrne and young striker Philip Donnelly, whose fine ball to the back post saw Sean Brennan ghost in late and volley just wide.

Athlone had deployed a well-drilled offside trap to curb United's fitful attacking efforts, and it was sprung effectively again to thwart Karl Bermingham after a poor defensive clearance had allowed Byrne to slip him through on goal.

Ten minutes before the interval, Town were awarded a free-kick in a promising central position. But after an elaborate rehearsed routine, Kenna's shot cannoned off the Monaghan wall to safety.

Two minutes later, Mons' defender Conor McMahon dispossessed the out-of-sorts Stephen Place and embarked on an ambitious run which ended with a scooped pass for Bermingham only for the striker to be again ruled offside.

United's best chance of the half came in the 42nd minute. Donnelly's cross from the left flank was cleared to the feet of Don Tierney, who struck an instinctive low volley that brought an alert save from Town's Chris Bennion. Skelly drove over the bar for Town at the end of a brisk counter-attack.

Town's woes in front of goal were exemplified five minutes into the second half. A fine attack initiated from deep saw then overrun United. Skelly drove the ball into the box from the right and O'Hanlon came in unmarked to meet it only to hit a weak, bobbling shot that was easily gathered by Sava. Place's snap-shot on the turn a minute later also failed to threaten the goal, and a free-kick on the very edge of the box, awarded when McMahon caught Place with a trailing leg, saw Caffrey strike his shot well high of the goal.

Monaghan had the ball in the net in the 55th minute through Karl Bermingham, but Barry Clancy was ruled to have carried the ball over the endline before flicking in his cross. Two minutes later, Town knitted together another impressive build-up, but when Skelly collected from Niall Scullion and fed through for Place, the off-balance striker contrived a shot that skewed away close to the corner flag.

On the hour Town full-back Mark Nolan advanced to collect from Skelly and hit an enterprising volley which was saved confidently by Sava.

The balance of the game changed significantly in the 67th minute when Kenna got his marching orders for his lunge at Hanaphy, who had replaced Philip Donnelly in the Mons attack.

Stephen McCrossan took the stricken Hanaphy's place as United sought a way to exploit their advantage in numbers. As Athlone regrouped, Brennan slipped a neat pass through for McCrossan but Town forced him wide and his eventual drive towards the near post was cleared emphatically by McCarthy.

Town manager Brendan Place rang the changes, withdrawing his starting strikeforce and sending on Kevin Dunne and Gordon Watson. But the game was more a question now of how the Athlone defence would cope with the escalating United pressure.

The visitors were helped by United opting to attempt ever more intricate ways to unlock the door. Byrne's fine long-range pass to free Bermingham looked to have done the trick but there was no United player to supply the killer touch when Bermingham sent the ball strafing across the Town six-yard box.

The home fans howled in frustration when Brennan attempted an audacious back-flick after McCrossan located him in the box with a well-weighted pass, and then McCrossan himself became the villain, driving well wide after Brennan had returned the compliment.

Town did muster one good breakaway chance in the 89th minute, Nolan picking out Dunne in the box, but the substitute's first touch was lacking and Aidan Lynch managed to snuff out the danger for United.

Athlone saw out the final minutes with reasonable comfort, their scariest moment coming just into added time when McCrossan, eight yards from goal, was a toe-length away from connecting with Barry Clancy's raking cross.

Monaghan United: Gabriel Sava; Aidan Collins, Aidan Lynch, Conor McMahon, Anthony Costigan; Sean Brennan, Don Tierney, Alan Byrne, Barry Clancy; Karl Bermingham, Philip Donnelly. Subs: Darragh Hanaphy for Donnelly (62); Stephen McCrossan for Hanaphy (69). Booked: Brennan, 19; Donnelly, 56; McMahon, 80.

Athlone Town: Chris Bennion; Mark Nolan, Brian McCarthy, Des Hope, Eoin O'Shea; Niall Scullion, Stephen Caffrey, Gareth Kenna, Richie O'Hanlon; Stephen Place, Austin Skelly. Subs: Keith Dunne for Place (70); Gordon Watson for Skelly (80). Booked: McCarthy, 67. Sent off: Kenna, 67.

Referee: John Grimes.

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