City joint-top after strolling to victory

SSE AIRTRICITY PREMIER DIVISION:

The hosts were very competitive in the first half and were somewhat unlucky to concede a close range goal to Mark O’Sullivan just before the break, but the visitors moved through the gears in the second half and even though it was two long balls that created second half goals for Billy Dennehy and Liam Kearney, City always looked far more slick going forward.

For long stretches of the first half it looked as if this would be the night that Athlone would pick up their first positive result of the new season. They competed aggressively for loose possession around the middle and in James O’Brien, they had a livewire playmaker who always looked to put them on the front foot.