Athlone picked up their first win in 20 attempts against Longford Town in an entertaining 3-1 victory in the First Division of the SSE Airtricity League.
Despite their underdog status, it was the Westmeath side who started the better. Thomas Oluwa nearly opened the scoring for the visitors in the opening minutes but was denied at the death by Dylan Barnett with a last-ditch tackle.
Longford began to get to grips with the game in the aftermath. Carl Chambers thought he put them ahead in the 24th minute when he struck home. Unfortunately for him however the goal was ruled out for a handball.
Vladislav Velikin made things more frustrating for the hosts by putting on an exhibition of goalkeeping in the first half. His save from Christian Magerusan on the half hour mark being the pick of the bunch.
Despite this pressure it was Athlone who would take the lead through a moment of magic from Oluwa in the 42nd minute. The former Bohs man found the net with a bicycle kick giving the visitors a 1-0 lead at the interval.
Athlone could have doubled their lead just after the break but Matthew O’Brien somehow managed to clear the ball off the line.
Similar to the first half, Longford began to dominate possession and were nearly level in the 64th minute when Dylan Barnett hit the bar from a free-kick.
A Near miss became a disaster in the space of a minute as Longford conceded straight away with an own goal. Michael Barker was the unfortunate figure who headed into his own net after a mix up in the penalty area.
The hosts finally got their goal however in the 70th minute through Dean McMenemy pounced after Cian Corbally’s header was blocked on the line. The goal made it 2-1 to set up a grandstand finish in the last 20 minutes.
Gary Cronin rang the changes as Longford chased an equaliser but Adam Lennon rounded the keeper in injury time to seal a deserved second win of the season.
Sam Curtin
Sam is an avid sports enthusiast who has been working in journalism since he was 16. Along with his work, he also plays tennis and is a Government and Political Science student at UCC. Most importantly of all however is that he's from Cork.