Athlone U-12s played host to neighbours Garrycastle, on Wednesday last, July 9th, in the second phase of the County League. Having lost the toss Athlone faced the breeze for the first period. From the throw in Athlone won the ball and mounted an attack that soon earned the opening point. Playing intelligently, the home side proceeded to control large areas of the field, carrying the ball well and finding their man with accurate passing. A two goal salvo from Stephen Dowling midway through the half gave Athlone a cushion and even more confidence as the team gelled perfectly as a unit. A late flurry from ‘The Castle’ saw them register two points and just before the break Athlone conceded a soft goal. The halftime whistle saw Athlone leading by four points, 2-5 to 1-4.
The second half was much as the first. Despite Garrycastle’s brave efforts the Athlone lads simply had too much on the night. Try as they might the visitors could not break down an impressive defence which proved the foundation for this victory. Elsewhere the players combined very well and moved the ball unselfishly leading to some fine scores. In the end Athlone had eight points to spare on the scoreline of: Athlone 3-9 Garrycastle 1-7.
This was a very encouraging Athlone display, particularly the team work on show. From 1 to 15 they all played their part in giving what was no doubt their best performance of the season to date. Each and every team member gave displays of which they can be proud of, any of them could be candidates for man-of-match honours. That aside, I feel I must mention a few players who stood out for the manner of their performances on the night. At left corner back, Brendan Fagan gave a marvellous display, never putting a foot wrong, high balls, low balls they were all the same, meat and drink to Brendan. Both wing backs namely, Steven Feery and Sean Dowling were equally as good, marking tightly, first to the ball each time and delivering telling passes to the front lines. In midfield Adam Ward stood out, his constant work rate was a joy to watch as he defended one minute and attacked the next. Adam even embellished his performance with a well taken point. Well done lads, keep up the good work.
Athlone team, panel and scorers: Scott Gaynor, Gary Joyce, Mark McBride, Brendan Fagan, Steven Feery, Eoin Gaughan, Sean Dowling, Adam Ward(0-1), Daniel Qualter(1-1), Andrew Lynam(0-2), Robert Benson, Brian Mulvihill, Kevin Horan(0-1), Stephen Dowling(2-1), Shane Kilroy-Glynn(0-3), Alan Byrne, J.B. Boland, Cian McCormack, Liam Muldoon, Jamie O’Connor and Jason Boland.
