ATHLONE TOWN 2 WATERFORD FC 5
A slow start to the game changed when Waterford FC hit the woodwork after 8 minutes.
Junior Quitirna's shot from the left edge of the penalty area came off the angle of the post and upright. The reprieve was brief for Athlone as the visitors hit the front a minute later. Tunmise Sobowale attacked down the right and his cross to the edge of the six-yard box was met by Louis Britton who shot to the net over the keeper.
The lead was brief though as the hosts were on level terms at the quarter-hour mark. Thomas Oluwa was fouled by Brian Murphy as he looked to connect with a right-wing cross. Town captain Shane Barnes sent the keeper the wrong way with the resulting spot-kick.
Yassine En-Neyah and Oluwa were then denied at either end. The woodwork again frustrated the Blues on the half-hour mark. Junior shot off the keeper’s legs and En Neyah fired the rebound off the bar.
The visitors took control in the closing stages of the half with two goals in a 5-minute spell before the break.
The lead was regained on 40 minutes when a swift counterattack ended with Roland Idowu finding the net from just inside the box. On the stroke of halftime, the lead was stretched as Phoenix Patterson’s strike from the left was adjudged to have crossed the goal line after crashing down off the bar.
The second half was just 3 minutes old when Patterson grabbed his second goal pouncing on the keeper’s failure to safely gather a Shane Griffin shot.
Athlone reduced the deficit after 54 minutes when Gary Armstrong returned to the net a poor clearance from Murphy.
The scoring ended though on the hour mark when Idowu netted from close range.
The result marks eight straight wins for the Blues in the first division. With Galway dropping points against Longford, Danny Searle's team are now within four points of the Tribesmen who they travel to face on Friday evening.
