Published: Wednesday, 18th August, 2010 5:00pm

Barren spell continues as town draw at lowly Salthill

Salthill Devon 1 Athlone Town 1

ATHLONE TOWN returned from the west on Saturday night with just a point after sharing the spoils with lowly Galway side Salthill Devon at Drom.

Following Daryl Horgan's first-half strike that gave the home side the lead, it took the Town just a minute after the break to level through the head of Andy Haran - which was his first touch of the ball in competitive action for Athlone.

Athlone have now gone nine league games without a win and this fixture was viewed by many as a perfect chance for Brendan Place's side to break their winless streak.

Salthill - experiencing their debut season in the league - have just two victories to their name to date, however, Athlone are not faring much better in that department, having won just four times in 23 league games.

And Salthill carried a bit of optimism into this game following a spirited 2-2 draw at Longford Town the previous week, while they were also aware of the fact they drew 2-2 with Athlone at Lissywoollen in mid-May.

Athlone made several changes to their starting line-up from the one which lost 3-2 to Limerick, with Declan O'Brien making his long-awaited debut up front.

O'Brien partnered Robbie Farrell in attack, with Farrell returning after a lengthy absence through injury.

Another long-term absentee, Gareth Kenna, was on the bench, while right-back Mark Nolan returned to the side following a six-game suspension.

Centre-back Paddy Collins, who has impressed many Athlone supporters since signing from Bohemians, was dropped to the bench, with Brian McCarthy coming in alongside Dave Breen in defence.

Eoghan O'Shea was also left out, while Austin Skelly was serving the first game of a two-match ban, and Gordon Watson is sidelined for six months with a cruciate knee ligament problem.

Des Hope also continued to miss out through injury but is expected to return against Mervue Utd this coming weekend.

In a highly entertaining affair, the first half was full of life and a real competitiveness flowed through the play of both sides.

Devon felt they should have been in front after just two minutes when Mikey Gilmore poked in Victor Collins' cross from close range - only for the linesman's flag to deny him.

Perhaps feeling they were let off the hook, Athlone reacted immediately and Robbie Farrell unleashed a crisp drive from the edge of the area only to be denied by Devon stopper Ronan Forde.

From the resulting corner, an attempted headed clearance from Sean Murphy fell to Farrell and this time he volleyed inches wide.

The ten-minute mark had not yet been reached when Athlone broke again - this time Farrell picking out Declan O'Brien and his low shot was again well held by Forde.

In the meantime, an intriguing midfield battle was well underway as the pace of Gilmore and Horgan began to make Brendan Place's side work hard to keep the determined strugglers at bay.

On 20 minutes, Gilmore darted up the left wing and cut inside to cross low for Collins who blasted home - but again the home side were angered to see the linesman's flag in the air once more.

As Devon reeled at not finding themselves ahead, Athlone broke again with Jason Hughes but again Forde was at full stretch to deny him.

The game needed a goal - and it arrived ten minutes before the break when Collins passed out to Horgan on the right.

Using his pace to move in on goal, the young winger proved why he has attracted attention from Galway Utd when he let fly and found the net sweetly via the post.

The first half fizzled out with Devon patiently passing the ball to ensure they preserved their precious lead going into the interval.

But they only led for under a minute into the second half as Andy Haran will long remember his first touch as an Athlone Town player.

Brian McCarthy broke free on the right hand side and crossed to find Haran lurking at the back post who had just come on to replace Farrell - and he nodded low through Forde's legs from close range.

Haran had a very successful loan spell at Monaghan Utd a couple of years ago, and Athlone supporters will be hoping to see more of this type of goal-poaching before the end of the season.

The second half was not as entertaining however, and once Devon conceded they concentrated on not falling behind, and reversed to negative tactics.

As a result, Athlone found life more difficult going forward and were often swamped in midfield.

On the hour mark, Athlone thought they should have had a penalty when a Jason Hughes cross looked to have been handled by Murphy - but a spotkick would have been harsh.

Just a minute later, Devon almost took the lead in bizarre circumstances when right-back James Whelan found himself in alien territory high on the right flank.

As he tried to cross for the waiting Collins in the box, his strike looped fiercely and with the aid of a deflection curled towards goal and landed on the crossbar.

Athlone continued to try and break down the stubborn Devon rearguard, but it wasn't until six minutes from time that they came anywhere near netting a winner, when substitute Niall Scullion fired towards the corner but his effort was somehow blocked by Collins. On the break, Devon nearly snatched all three points when Whelan wandered forward again and shot just wide of the left post. With seconds left, Town had one last half-chance when Jason Hughes found space on the left wing and crossed low in search of debutant and skipper Declan O'Brien - only for Sean Murphy to intercept just in time to ensure that Haran would be the only debutant to find the net on the night.

Although a point makes little difference to Athlone's league standing, it brings Devon within a point of their cross-city rivals Mervue Utd at the foot of the table - who Athlone entertain on Saturday night.

Salthill Devon: Ronan Forde; James Whelan, Sean Murphy, Brian Geraghty, Gearoid O'Leidhinn; Daryl Horgan, Robbie Porter, Ciprian Straut, Mikey Gilmore; Victor Collins, Colm McBrien. Subs: Mike Kennedy for McBrien (72 mins), Luke McConell for Horgan (90).

Athlone Town: Michael Schlingermann; Mark Nolan, Wayne Colbert, Brian McCarthy, Dave Breen; Denis Moran, Shane Fitzgerald (N Scullion 76mins), Jason Hughes, Robbie Farrell, Declan O'Brien, Ryan McEvoy. Subs: Gareth Kenna for McEvoy (45 mins), Andy Haran for Farrell (45), Niall Scullion for Fitzgerald (76).

Referee: Paul McLaughlin.

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