No home comfort for Athlone Town as Shels cruise to victory

Athlone Town's run of three successive home league defeats, all without scoring, was extended to four on Saturday night as they struggled to compete with a much more efficient and powerful Shelbourne team. The league table at this stage of the season usually gives a fair indication of the relative strengths of each team and a gap of over 30 points suggested that Athlone were always likely to be in for a difficult night against the league leaders, and so it proved. Shelbourne have been accused of lacking flair this season and they certainly didn't possess any of the creativity that Cork City demonstrated in the previous league match in Lissywoollen. However, manager Alan Matthews has built up a powerful and deep squad of players that use the width of the field extremely well. Crucially they rarely concede possession of the ball in key areas and thus always make opponents work for their chances. Their style of play is extremely simple, bypassing the middle of the field with long deliveries forward and exploiting the size of their forward pairing Philip Hughes and Karl Bermingham, or else bringing the pace of wide players Conan Byrne and Brendan McGill into the game. From the start they were completely on top in this fixture and had a clear sight of goal in only the second minute, Kevin Dawson pulling a low shot left of the target when shooting from the edge of the square. Brendan McGill's approach work down the left wing was crucial to creating this chance and the diminutive winger was a key player throughout this match, terrorising Declan Fallon consistently. McGill was integral to the play when Shelbourne did open their account only two minutes later, swinging in a cross that Athlone failed to clear effectively. With chaos reigning in the home backline, Karl Bermingham was able to dink the ball back into the square and Conan Byrne was able to head home from six yards out, unmarked and uncontested. Shelbourne continued to dominate the opening stages and had two further attempts on goal before Athlone began to settle into the match from about the fifteenth minute onward. Mike Kerley's tactical ploy of playing Roy King as a deep lying midfielder in a 4-1-4-1 formation did offer some cover to the backline. However, it meant that Athlone were unable to get players up in support of Noel McGee and never really put pressure on a Shelbourne defence that were short two regular starters in Stephen Paisley and Gareth Matthews. That in turn allowed the Shels back line to easily play the ball out of defence and essentially play most of the football in Athlone's half of the field. The chances kept coming for the visitors throughout the first half, though their lack of accuracy meant that there remained only a single goal in the difference. Roy King made a great block on a goalbound attempt from Philip Hughes after Conan Byrne played the ball across the box and into the feet of the striker, while captain Dave Cassidy curled a free kick over the bar in the 21st minute after Damien Rushe fouled on the edge of the semi circle. Even when Athlone were attacking, it still seemed as if Shelbourne offered more of a goal threat. A long ball down to Noel McGee in the left corner of the Athlone Attack drew a rash tackle and a yellow card for full-back Colm James, but Shels were able to easily deal with Kevin Williamson's cross and broke out with great speed, creating a 3 on 2 opportunity. The ball across into the box was badly measured and Michael Schlingermann was able to intercept, thus eliminating the danger but leaving Athlone on the back foot once more. Further great chances for Conan Byrne and Colm James could have seen Shels double their lead, but Athlone made it to half-time still in with a shout, albeit with a lot of work to do on the attacking side. The only real chance for an equaliser came in the 66th minute, when Noel McGee latched onto a long delivery and successfully held up the ball for a few moments while support arrived into the Shelbourne penalty area. His measured chip across the goal seemed perfectly placed but it fell just a few feet too far in front of Stephen Relihan, who couldn't quite get the touch required to guide the ball home. Athlone's challenge was made even tougher only a minute later when they were reduced to ten men in very controversial fashion. Paul Danaher and Kevin Dawson contested a high ball from a throw-in and the Shelbourne player appeared to be struck in the face with the football from close range. What seemed like an accidental incident was interpreted by referee James McKell as a deliberate act from Danaher and the big centre back was shown the red card, a decision that he clearly disputed based on his remonstrations with the third official on the way off the field. Athlone did raise their game a little for the last 20 minutes, but their increased endeavour never looked like creating a clear-cut chance, and the game was ended as a contest in the 85th minute when Philip Hughes got his head to another Brendan McGill cross. Hughes seemed too far out just beyond the penalty spot but his header looped high and dipped into the top corner at the last second, narrowly evading Schlingermann and destroying any chance Athlone may have felt they had of nicking a late equaliser. ATHLONE TOWN: Michael Schlingermann; Declan Fallon, Jamie Carr, Kevin Dunne, Paul Danaher; Roy King; Kevin Williamson, Stephen Relihan, Jason Hughes, Damien Rushe; Noel McGee. Subs: Davy Ryan for Roy King, Tommy Barrett for Jason Hughes, Mark Sherlock for Declan Fallon. SHELBOURNE: Paul Skinner; Colm James, Lorcan Fitzgerald, Andy Boyle, Ian Ryan; Conan Byrne, Kevin Dawson, Dave Cassidy, Brendan McGill; Philip Hughes, Karl Bermingham. Subs: Chris Mulhall for Karl Bermingham, Sean Byrne for Conan Byrne, Philip Gorman for Philip Hughes. REFEREE: James McKell.