League Report: Athlone Town 2 - 5 Waterford

Paul Corcoran reports from Athlone Town Stadium

There were seven goals in Lissywollen on Friday night but it definitely couldn’t be considered a thriller as Waterford hammered Athlone Town 5-2 on the opening night of the season.

The visitors went four-up thanks to goals from Cian Kavanagh, Phoenix Patterson and a brace from Junior Quitirna.

The last ten minutes saw three goals as Stephen Kenny netted for the home side, before Louis Britton added a fifth for Waterford with Glen McAuley finishing the night from the penalty spot and scoring a second for Athlone Town.

There were eight debutants in Martin Russell’s Athlone side with Daniel Dobbin, Noah van Geenan, Andy Spain, Jackson Hulme, Stephen Kenny, Quincy NKansah, Tomas Oluwa and Youri Habing all getting their first starts.

Ian Morris named three debutants for his first game in charge of Waterford with Richard Taylor, Yassine En-Neyah and Kevin Joshua  all starting for the Blues.

The home side were the first to have a shot on target with Glen McAuley firing off from the edge of the box in the second minute. Brian Murphy didn’t have to strain too much to make his first save of the season however.

Micheál Schlingermann denied the away side with a double save after 13 minutes. Patterson struck a rasping effort from the edge of the box drawing a diving save from the goalkeeper. Cian Kavanagh picked up the rebound and had a crack himself but Schlingermann again sprung into action to deny the striker.

The visitors didn’t need many more chances on goal to break the deadlock as they took the lead with a quick fire double with just over 15 minutes gone.

Kavanagh wasn’t denied a second time when he met Patterson’s floated corner-kick in the box, sending his deft header into the corner of Athlone’s net for the lead.

Two minutes later Patterson doubled the lead after Yassine En-Neyah drew a save from Schlingermann with a long-range effort. The winger swooped in quickly for the rebound and blasted the ball into the back of the net to give his side a comfortable lead.

The Blues added a third in the 36^th minute after Junior Quitirna won a free on the edge of the box when referee Kevin O’Sullivan blew his whistle for a foul when the forward was taken down by a defender.

Quitirna did the honours from left of the ‘D’ and looped the ball beautifully over the Athlone wall with his free-kick, with the ball nestling in the bottom right corner of the net.

McAuley was definitely the stand out performer for Athlone Town on Friday night and he created another great chance for the home side when he threaded a lovely ball through to Thomas Oluwa in the 49^th minute.

Oluwa turned his marker on the edge of the box before firing off a lovely effort, the striker couldn’t keep his shot down though and he had to watch it inch narrowly over the crossbar.

Waterford netted for a fourth time just ten minutes into the second half – Quitirna grabbed his second of the night when he picked the ball up in the Athlone half and raced towards goal, he beat a defender in the box before placing the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

Athlone to their credit kept trying despite the deficit and they got a consolation goal for their troubles with ten minutes to go, second half substitute Oisin Duffy made a great run down the right wing before firing a searching low cross into the box – the ball somehow found its way to Stephen Kenny who hammered the ball into the net.

The Blues will have been disappointed not to keep a clean sheet, and they responded immediately at the other end with Patterson claiming his second assist of the nigh with a drilled cross from the right finding the unmarked second half substitute Louis Britton at the far post who nodded home.

The action seemed like it wouldn’t stop coming in the last ten minutes with McAuley winning a penalty for the home side in the 87^th minute. The striker made no mistake from the spot, firing the ball into the bottom right corner for Athlone’s second goal of the night.

Athlone Town: Mícheál Schlingermann (c); Noah van Geenan, Andy Spain, Daniel Dobbin (Oisin Duffy 46), Derek Daly; Quincy Nkansah (Sami Clarke 61), Stephen Kenny, Jackson Hulme, Youri Habing (Aaron Connolly 78); Thomas Oluwa (Success Edogun 74), Glen McAuley.

Subs not used: Cameron Mulready, Donal Curtin, Aaron McBride, Gary Armstrong.

Booked: None.

Sent off: None.

Waterford: Brian Murphy; Richard Taylor (Jeremie Milambo 88), Darragh Power, Eddie Nolan (c), Kevin Joshua; Anthony Wordsworth, Junior Quitirna (Roland Idowu 74), Phoenix Patterson, Shane Griffin, Yassine En-Neyah; Cian Kavanagh (Louis Britton 74).

Subs not used: Paul Martin, George Forrest, Callum Stringer, Dean Larkin , Tunmise Sobowale, Liam Kervick.

Booked: None.

Sent off: None.

Referee: Kevin O’Sullivan.

Attendance: 300 (estimate)

extratime.com Player of the Match: Phoenix Patterson (Waterford)