Fallon fires Athlone past The Downs to U14 glory
Athlone 2-11, The Downs 0-7
A stellar display from Athlone saw them comfortably overcome The Downs in the Westmeath U14 Division 1 League decider in Breedon Molloy Park on Monday evening of last week.
The men from the south west of the county had a fine combination of solid defence, versatility in attack and a powerful weapon in midfield dynamo Sachin Sundaresan, who stole the show.
It was the black and amber home side who began brightly and Ben Loughlin’s point opened the scoring. It would take over ten minutes for Athlone to find their range due to good defending from the likes of Conor Reid and James Nea. When they did, it was their chief scorer Aodhán Fallon who pointed a free skilfully off the ground, before Sundaresan scored his only point of the day to put Athlone ahead.
The towering, catching-machine of Sundaresan was central to the majority of positive moments that Paddy Macken and Joe Fallon’s side had.
After TJ Loughlin had done brilliantly to level for The Downs, Athlone replied with their third score as Fallon did the job once again after the original midfield free was brought forward 50 metres for an infringement on Luke Clarke. Not to be outdone, the home side levelled again, this time through Oisín Coyne’s beautiful placed-ball.
Fallon and Loughlin traded scores before the first signs of Athlone’s resolve showed near the end of the half. A Fallon free and Frank Pettit point were followed by a green flag with the last kick as Jack Costello poked home the rebound after Michael Cunningham’s shot was saved brilliantly by Conor Quinlan. At half-time, Athlone had the lead by 1-6 to 0-4.
The second half showed similar levels of pace and intensity and with the first real attack, Alex Kingston and The Downs saw their appeals for a spot-kick denied. Sport can be cruel and in an instant, Athlone had moved the ball through quick passes before Luke Clarke was tripped, leading to a penalty of their own in a major swing moment in the contest. Aodhán Fallon slotted low to the net past Quinlan and Athlone had one hand on the shield.
Goal-line clearances, fine saves from Quinlan and Michael Union, and some aggressive tackles kept the crowd enthralled to the end.
Despite Ben Loughlin (two) and Oisín Coyne scores for The Downs, five scores from Athlone’s half-forward line sealed the title. Fallon (three), Pettit and Costello completed the scoring for them, with Sundaresan and Cian Mannion both impressing for the victors.
On behalf of a jubilant Athlone side, team captain Yassin El Harouny accepted the U14 Division 1 Shield from Ronan Farrell of Westmeath Coiste na nÓg.
Scorers – Athlone: A Fallon 1-7 (1-0pen, 4f); J Costello 1-1; F Pettit 0-2; S Sundaresan 0-1. The Downs: O Coyne 0-3 (2f); B Loughlin 0-2 (1f); C Walters, TJ Loughlin 0-1 each.
Athlone: Michael Union; Yassin El Harouny, Fearghal Kelly, Youssef El Hadidy; Fionn Macken, Cian Mannion, Bobby O’Brien; Luke Clarke, Sachin Sundaresan; Frank Pettit, Aodhán Fallon, Jack Costello; Harry Cunningham, Conor Johnson, Michael Cunningham. Subs: Eoghan Silke, Conor Kennedy, Daniel Donegan, Sam Gunning.
The Downs: Conor Quinlan; Ronan Murtagh, Conor Reid, Ronin Orme; Aidan Quinlan, James Nea, Austin Clarke; Oisín Kelly, Conor Walters; Cónal Murphy; Ben Loughlin, Oisín Coyne; Coran Quinn, TJ Loughlin, Alex Kingston. Subs: Oisín McCormack, Oscar Temple, Antonio Bertolo, Tom O’Connell, Rian Gilhooley, Rhys Colgan, Ethan Bradley, Corey Barron.
Referee: Vinny Cox (Rosemount).