Excellent Athlone hits four in Champions League rout

Athlone Town has progressed comfortably from its opening fixture in the first qualifying round of this season's UEFA Champions League – beating North Macedonia's ZFK Skopje, 4-0, in Poland earlier today (July 22).

First half goals by Shauna Brennan and Noelle Murray, both headers from right-wing deliveries, put Athlone in the driving seat by the interval.

At half-time, and no doubt with one eye on the next qualifying fixture this Saturday, manager Lily Agg felt that she could substitute two of the Town's star players, Hannah Waesch and Madison Gibson.

And still, Athlone continued to dominate its opponents, with Dana Scheriff and Michaela Hand (see the substitute's goal below) adding two further goals to seal a one-sided victory.

Athlone will now go forward to the next first round qualifying fixture, where they will face either Czarni Sosnowiec (Poland) or WFC Nike (Georgia). The Polish club is hosting the four-team qualifying tournament and if they overcome WFC Nike, will come up against Athlone on Saturday (5pm) for a place in the second qualifying round.

The losing team in Saturday's qualifying final will go into the UEFA Women's Europa Cup.