Athlone 2-7
Shandonagh 1-15
A difficult start to the Athlone GAA junior men’s league campaign continued when they were defeated by five points by Shandonagh in Páirc Chiaráin recently.
The home side started brightly and led by 1-3 to 0-3 midway through the opening period, courtesy of a Benny Martin goal, and points from John Egan, Benny Martin and Ryan O’Connor. However, a disastrous spell when they conceded 1-2 in under two minutes changed the complexion of the game and Shandonagh added another couple of points late on to lead by 1-7 to 1-3 at the break.
Athlone missed some good chances early in the second half to bring themselves back into the game, and instead it was the Shandonagh who stretched their lead with the opening two points, before Luke Whelan opened his side’s account for the half. Despite having plenty of the ball, Athlone struggled to convert possession into scores, while Shandonagh found scoring easier at the other end and they opened up a seven point lead with time almost up. Dermot Bannon did give his side some up with a well-taken goal, but that was as good as it got for Athlone as Shandonagh ran out comfortable winners by 1-15 to 2-7.
Athlone: Rytis Liaukecivius, Anto Johnson, Paddy Ryan, Dylan Rushe, Josh Kenny, Matty Darling, Niall Doolan, Colin O’Leary, Luke O’Connell, Stephen Flaherty, John Egan (0-2 ), Luke Whelan (0-1 ), Ryan O’Connor (0-1 ), Benny Martin (1-2 ), Dermot Bannon (1-0 ) Subs Used: Darren Magee, Paul Bannon, Conor Murray, Conor Rushe (0-1 ), Matt Scally.
Under 12 Boys
Games are coming at a brisk pace for the club's U12 boys, with two more highly competitive games on Sunday.
In Division 4, the Whites team had a hard-earned win against Kilbeggan Shamrocks. With lots of great performances throughout the field Athlone led from the start. Up front Ryan Gill put in a dominant display at full forward scoring 2-1, while alongside him Cooper So was first to every ball and chipped in with 2-2. This was not to say Kilbeggan didn't have their chances but thanks to Albert Mazgajska in goal, Lovro Batas and all our defenders Athlone were equal to what was thrown at them. Captain today and leading by example was Donncha Hughes. The final score was Athlone 4-8: Kilbeggan 3-7. Our Whites have now won 3 of their first 4 games.
Athlone's scorers: Cooper So 2-2, Ryan Gill 2-1, Dylan Dollery 0-1, Cillian Coughlan 0-1, Dylan Cunningham 0-1, Ruairi Tierney 0-1.
The Blues played Garrycastle in a great battle between friends, neighbours, classmates, and teammates from school and other sports. There were some fine performances by players on both teams with Athlone pulling away in the final minutes of the game to win 3-6 to 2-4, but there was nothing between the teams in terms of skill and determination. In particular, Neil Boyle was outstanding for Athlone with his work rate, blocking, tackling and he also topped off a fine performance with a goal. Unfortunately, however, Neil got into an accidental tangle with his opponent in the final minute of the game and hurt his wrist. We wish Neil a speedy recovery and hope that we see him back on the field in the near future.
Scorers for Athlone: Olly Nicholson 1-2; Eoghanie Silke 0-2; Josh Fogarty 1-0; Neil Boyle 1-0; Seamus Kilroy 0-2.
