Athlone CC lose out

ATHLONE Community College"s bid to become Leinster under-14 league champions fell just short at Leah Victoria Park in Tullamore last Wednesday. A tenth minute goal by De La Salle striker Luke Byrne settled a close encounter that failed to provide too much entertainment for the small attendance. Athlone certainly did enough to warrant extra-time but De La Salle"s greater physical presence and more clinical edge in the final third of the field paid dividends in the end. The Community College"s best efforts came during a second half in which they were always chasing the slender deficit created by Byrne"s early goal. On another day - and against a different goalkeeper than De La Salle"s impressive James Kavanagh - midfielder Roy King could have had a couple of goals. His shooting from distance was extremely good and he tested Kavanagh with a couple of blockbusters in the second half. Otherwise, though, Athlone will be a bit disappointed not to have created more clear-cut chances during the 70 minutes and, in the end, De La Salle were worthy victors against a battling Athlone side. The opening few minutes of the contest were a bit scrappy, with Athlone fashioning the game"s first corner kick in the eight minute which came to nothing. Up the other end, Mark O"Sullivan tried to slot Gary Browne through on goal but Athlone"s trusted goalkeeper Michael McMahon read the situation well and smothered the ball inside the box. However, McMahon was helpless on ten minutes when De La Salle opened the scoring. The Wicklow side cut through the centre of Athlone"s defence with alarming ease, as Browne teed up Luke Byrne to drill a fine striker past McMahon and into the bottom left corner of the goal. Clive Harris, playing on the right of midfield, was making a couple of noteworthy runs in behind De La Salle"s left back, but Athlone failed to spot his clever movement on several occasions. Athlone got their first sniff of goal in the 20th minute when Ian Rosney was pushed almost 25 yards from goal, but Roy King"s effort failed to trouble Kavanagh in the Wicklow goal. Athlone then caused a couple of problems for De La Salle from corner kicks. On 24 minutes, a quickly taken short corner resulted in Eoin McCormack whipping over a fine low cross that Josh Feery almost got on target from a most difficult angle. Seven minutes later, McCormack provided another good cross from a right-sided corner but Brian Shaughnessy headed wide from eight yards. It was to be the last action of the first half. De La Salle started the second period in good form. Firstly, O"Sullivan tested McMahon from distance but the Athlone "keeper was more than equal to the task. They then had a terrific chance following a corner kick but team mates Byrne and Karl Earls collided with each other when going for the same ball six yards from goal. Athlone then suddenly came back into the game. On 46 minutes (this game was 35 minutes per half), King whipped over a brilliant cross from the left flank and striker Al-Amin Sanusi produced a header from nothing which zoomed past Kavanagh but unfortunately also went past the post. Seconds later, King thought he has scored with a fierce drive that swerved viciously but Kavanagh did superbly to push his shot over the crossbar. Kavanagh also did well to hold the resulting corner kick from McCormack as Athlone upped the ante. Athlone"s next attack saw McCormack shoot powerfully from distance but his shot was fractionally off target with Kavanagh struggling for once. De La Salle"s attacks were becoming far less frequent and Athlone sensed an equalising goal. The Wicklow side did break into the Athlone box in the 51st minute when Byrne"s delicate flicked pass set up Browne but his looping shot was cleared away by McCormack. In a rare moment of hesitancy, De La Salle"s "keeper was slightly fortunate to escape unpunished when he flapped at a free kick by King, the ball only dribbling out for a corner kick which was eventually headed over the bar by Shaughnessy. Time was starting to run out for Athlone but they so nearly drew level with 15 minutes left. McCormack did well to set up King 25 yards from goal and his smashing strike was brilliantly turned over the crossbar by the outstanding De La Salle netminder. Athlone pushed lots of bodies forward in the dying moments and even had a late penalty appeal when they claimed Byrne handled the ball. The award of a penalty kick would have been extremely harsh on Byrne and De La Salle and referee Dermot Tone got the decision spot-on. Harris also had a very late shot well held by Kavanagh as Athlone"s late surge petered out unrewarded. ATHLONE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: Michael McMahon; Matthew Darling; Jack Quinn; Ronan Daly; Brian Shaughnessy; Roy King; Clive Harris; Josh Feery; Ian Rosney; Al-Amin Sanusi; Eoin McCormack. Subs: Patrick Sheriff for Sanusi (57 mins); Gerard Menton for Feery (64). DE LA SALLE, WICKLOW: James Kavanagh; John Crowe; Bryan Doyle; Karl Earls; Gary O"Neill; Adam Cox; Conor French; Simon Beuchier; Luke Byrne; Mark O"Sullivan; Gary Browne. REFEREE: Dermot Tone.