Sligo Rovers 0-1 Athlone Town
By Conall Collier
It wasn’t pretty as the heavyweight had to slug it out over 90 minutes against the perceived lightweight at the Showgrounds on Sunday where a cruel deflection gave Athlone Town the crucial Women’s FAI Cup semi-final winning goal against hosts Sligo Rovers.
Neither was it evident that a massive 34 points separates double-chasing Athlone Town from bottom of the table Sligo Rovers.
There was a late change foe Sligo Rovers before kick-off when Amber Hardy sustained a knock during warm up and was replaced between the posts by Bonnie McKiernan.
Two changes from last week’s draw saw Alice Lillie and Eimear Lafferty come into the starting 11 for Kate Nugent and Rachel McGoldrick.
Athlone Town looked comfortable for long periods in the game, but the Westmeath side found the going more challenging against 11 players in comparison to the last encounter when a first minute red card reduced the Bit O’Red to 10 players.
On that occasion Athlone won impressively by 5-1 in a League encounter, but today at the Showgrounds the outcome was in the balance until referee Alan Patchell ended the contest after about seven minutes of added time.
Four minutes added time was announced, but then there was a lengthy period of attention for an Athlone Town player in the 92nd minute and in fairness to the referee he added on time that also allowed for other time-wasting tactics.
This wasn’t a spectacle of free-flowing football, but it produced further evidence of the progress that the home side has made in recent weeks – they are no longer a pushover and the players can certainly look forward to the next three games with some optimism.
Athlone had early chances from Brenda Tabe and Madison Gibson who was narrowly off target on two occasions, but they struggled to seize the initiative as Sligo Rovers settled and Keeva Flynn dictated from the back.
However, Athlone pressure was rewarded in the 32nd minute when Shauna Brennan’s shot took a deflection off a Sligo Rovers player and flashed past Bonnie McKiernan for a 1-0 interval advantage.
Keri Loughrey had the best chances for Sligo Rovers in each half, but she just couldn’t make the breakthrough while Roisin Molloy had opportunities for Athlone, but overall the second-half was a dour battle.
Sligo Rovers lost Keeva Flynn to a head injury with about 20 minutes remaining as Athlone stood strong and progressed to a third successive decider.
Sligo Rovers – Bonnie McKiernan; Alice Lillie, Cara King, Kelsey Munroe, Keeva Flynn, Emma Hansberry, Muireann Devaney, Paula McGrory, Keri Loughrey, Eimear Lafferty, Anna McDaniel.
Subs – Rachel McGoldrick for Flynn and Kate Nugent for King both 70 mins, Katie Melly for Hansberry, Leah Kelly for McGrory and Jessica Casey for Lafferty all 80m, Sarah Kiernan for Lillie 86m,
Athlone Town – Katie Keane; Kellier Brennan, Kayleigh Shine, Shauna Brennan, Kate Slevin, Laurie Ryan, Roisin Molloy, Brenda Tabe, Madison Gibson, Emily Burke, Ciara O’Neill. Sub – Isobel Ryan for Burke 77 mins.
Referee – Alan Patchell.
Assistant-referees – Richard Storey, Fintan Butler.
Fourth Official – Aaron O’Dowd.