Athlone's O'Halloran on international duty in Holland

Athlone Town winger Tom O'Halloran was on international duty with the Ireland under-17 side as they finished second in the Den Haag International Tournament in Holland last weekend. The Ireland selection played against Velo, Nordjaesland, Quick den Haag, Norwich City and Ado den Haag over the week in a league style competition. Going into the last game against Ado, Ireland knew only a win would do to come out as champions but they went down to a 1-0 defeat. O'Halloran, 16, who broke into Athlone's first-team over recent months and has made three appearances for Brendan Place's side, played in three out of the five games in Holland, assisting his team with no less than four assists. The winger marked his emergence as an Athlone first-team player by recently scoring a last gasp equaliser against First Division table toppers Shelbourne. He missed Athlone's weekend trip to UCD, which finished 1-1, but returned to training for the Lissywoollen outfit on Monday evening, and will more than likely return to the squad for Friday's FAI Cup Fourth Round clash against Sporting Fingal in Dublin. Meanwhile, a second-half Kevin Dunne free-kick was not enough for Athlone Town's under-20s last Sunday afternoon as they went down to a 2-1 defeat to Dublin side Shamrock Rovers. Rovers went two goals up in the first half with Athlone failing to perform in the opening 45 minutes, but a second half dominated by Athlone saw Rovers just hang on at the end for all three points. After a 2-1 victory over St. Pats Athletic in their last encounter, Athlone fielded the same 5-4-1 formation with Kevin Dunne netting Athlone's goal courtesy of a brilliant free kick. Athlone have now lost twice in four matches in the under-20 league but have also managed to beat St Pat's and draw against Longford Town, taking four points from the opening four games.