Athlone women can clinch league crown in Cork tonight
Athlone Town can claim back-to-back SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division titles with victory over Cork City at Turner’s Cross tonight (Wednesday, kick-off 7.30pm).
Athlone’s 2-1 defeat of Shelbourne in Tolka Park on Saturday places the team within touching distance of retaining their crown - see report here - and now a victory over the bottom placed club tonight will secure silverware with two league games still to play afterwards.
The win over Shels leaves Athlone four points clear of their their Dublin rivals with one game less played.
Athlone have yet to taste defeat in the league this season winning 15 of their 19 games played to date. Having conceded just nine league goals over the season’s duration, the team’s defence has provided the platform for Athlone’s successful season which now has the potential to conclude with a Premier Division and FAI Cup double.
Despite the recent managerial change - with John Sullivan stepping into the breach as interim manager after the departure of Colin Fortune - the players have remained focused on retaining their league crown.
Kelly Brady, speaking to RTE after the win over Shelbourne, stated that the team were close to achieving their goals.
“We have goals for our season and we just knew we have a great group and we just had to keep focused, even though there has been some turmoil,” Brady said.
The prolific striker praised caretaker boss Sullivan for stepping in and doing “a great job” following Fortune’s surprise departure at the start of the month.
“You don’t want to see a coaching change in the middle of a season but John has been doing a great job. He really lets us do what we’re best at. We respect him and he’s stepped in and done a great job,” Brady added.
The US Born Brady is also in the running for the Premier Division’s ‘golden boot’ and is currently level with Shelbourne counterpart Mackenzie Anthony, both having scored 16 league goals.
“I’m hoping to score more goals and get to the top (of the scorers’ charts), because it’s been a close race. Mackenzie is a great player and I just want to secure my spot,” Brady said.
Should Athlone fail to pick up a win in Cork tonight, they will still have games against Peamount United (away, Saturday, October 4) and Sligo Rovers (home, October 11) to achieve their goal.
Tonight’s game against Cork City will be streamed live on the League of Ireland online platform loitv.ie with coverage starting at 7.15pm.