Athlone prepare for start of Under-20 campaign

ATHLONE Town under-20s will be up against some stern competition when the new FAI League of Ireland Under-20 League kicks off early next month. The Town"s opening league fixture in a seven team group is against St Patrick"s Athletic on the week ending July 5, with date and kick-off time to be confirmed. Also in Athlone"s group are Bray Wanderers, Shamrock Rovers and UCD, who all traditionally boast strong underage or reserve sides. Recently appointed Athlone manager Colm Muldoon puts his charges through their paces in a challenge match against Tullamore Town at Lissywoollen on Thursday (kick-off: 7.45pm). Muldoon said: 'Things have been coming together in the last couple of weeks. Obviously, there"s still a long way to go for these lads before the season kicks off and plenty of conditioning work to be done. I"ll probably work off a squad of 17-18 committed players this season. They need to be available to attend every training session and to put football first.' Athlone"s first three games see them face St Patrick"s Athletic, Bray Wanderers and Longford Town, with two teams qualifying from the group into the quarter-finals. The group phase is scheduled to come to a conclusion in mid-late October and each team gets twelve group games. 'I"m looking forward to the challenge and although we"ve been pitted against some strong opposition and big clubs, these are the challenges you need to meet as a young football player. As I said, the squad is slowly coming together and it will be interesting to see how these lads stand up to the test of playing against good opposition. The Tullamore game is just another step in the preparation process and hopefully the league campaign will go okay for us,' said Muldoon. Athlone Town are also believed to be currently reviewing their underage structures with a view to the club helping to develop local football talent across the region. Already this season, a number of young Athlone players including Robbie Benson, Tom O"Halloran and Kevin Dunne have all been given regular first-team action.