Athlone Town suffer Senior Cup defeat ahead of local derby

Ahead of this Friday's eagerly awaited local derby clash against St Peter's, Athlone Town continued their pre-season preparations with a 4-1 defeat to Shelbourne in the Leinster Senior Cup group stage at the AUL Complex, Dublin last night (Tuesday).

Despite taking the lead early on through new signing Patrick Ferry, Athlone eventually conceded four times, with promising young Shelbourne striker Daniel Ring grabbing a hat-trick.

It was Athlone's second defeat in the competition after losing, 5-0, against Dundalk last Saturday. The Town fielded a mixture of new signings and younger players against Shelbourne, but will be expected to line-up with a more experienced side against St Peter's, who have so far enjoyed their Leinster Senior Cup campaign.

The Newtowncarberry side beat a young Dundalk team in their opening outing before their second match was unfortunately abandoned in the closing stages after a Shelbourne player suffered a serious injury. Shelbourne were winning, 3-2, at the time, but it was another valiant display by Mark McConnell's men, who will be excited about the proposition of facing Athlone when a large attendance is expected at Athlone Town Stadium this Friday, January 30, (kick-off 7.45pm).