Last gasp Aaron Bolger piledriver downs 10-man Athlone Town

Aaron Bolger, Cork City scores the winning goal against Athlone Town in the SSE Airtricity League First Division at Athlone Town Stadium. Photo Ray Ryan

Athlone Town 1 Cork City 2

Aaron Bolger’s stoppage-time piledriver rescued a comeback victory for leaders Cork City against the 10-men basement battlers of Athlone Town on an eventful night in the Midlands.

Trailing to Thomas Oluwa’s goal on 30 seconds, despite Athlone losing Stephen Kenny five minutes into the second half, it took until 68 minutes for the Rebels to equalise through Cian Murphy.

Teenage goalkeeper Michael Smith, on for his debut in place of injured Micheál Schlingermann, faced a barrage of City late pressure from the visitors but was helpless when Bolger unleased a 25-yarder to complete the turnaround.

After granting Mark O’Mahony his first league start in Monday’s 3-0 win over Treaty, Colin Healy kept faith with the 17-year-old, preferring him to mainstay Ruairí Keating in attack.

Cian Murphy came back into the team as one of four changes but it was the newcomer to the Athlone team that made the early impact.

From the kick-off, Oluwa drove at the Cork defence from the left, advancing into the box before passing to the unmarked Oisin Duffy.

Although his shot was blocked on the line by Ally Gilchrist, the defender retrieved the loose ball and sent a cross back into the six-yard box where Oluwa was left to head home.

City, with only six goals conceded in their first 13 league games, appeared rattled at the back and were further exposed during an uncomfortable opening half.

Before those additional nervy moments, Cian Bargary arrowed a rising volley wide in response to the concession. His namesake Murphy couldn’t frank his swivel past Aaron McBride with a finish before Schlingermann was tested for the first time on 17 minutes.

Aaron Bolger’s shot from the edge of the box wasn’t the midfielder’s deadliest but the veteran goalkeeper anticipated the ball bobbling before turning it away.

Then came another shaky spell for City. Harrington dived full-stretch to bat away Stephen Kenny’s shot just past the half hour and Athlone went closer from two quickfire corners.

Flying Dutchman Noah van Geenen, who had to step back into defence when Athlone lost the injured Andy Spain, could only glance his header wide when left alone. From another of Derek Daly’s inswinging deliveries, McBride broke loose of his marker without applying the required connection.

Fortunate to be just a goal adrift at the break, Cork were left frustrated with a delay to the restart due. Schlingermann’s white under armour equipment clashed with City’s sleeves, forcing the stopper to revisit his dressing-room for a wardrobe change.

Schlingermann would remain prominent in the proceedings, especially by trying to play through the pain of a hip injury.

Yet Kenny would cast into the prime character first, incurring two bookings during the opening five minutes to leave Town a man light for the last 40 minutes. Both yellows were acts of petulance, most needlessly the lunge on Kieran Coates for his red.

Still, City struggled to break the bottom side down, heavily reliant on Cian Bargary’s long throws. Matt Healy has been more proficient in recent weeks with shots from distance and his attempt on 59 that clipped the crossbar offered hope.

It soon yielded a breakthrough. Healy’s corner from the left was pinpoint for Murphy to wriggle free and plant his header in from eight yards.

Just as it appeared that leveller would galvanise the leaders, they were caught out at the back again two minutes later. When Oluwa drew a foul from Gilchrist in the box, he took the penalty himself. His tame effort was parried by Harrington before he inexplicably blazed over the rebound from close-range.

City survived a couple more scares before they grabbed the winner. Cian Coleman scampered back to clear Duffy’s header off the line, while Harrington himself needed to claw Aaron Connolly’s punt from the halfway line onto the post. By contrast, Bolger was impeccably clinical with his finish.

ATHLONE TOWN: M Schlingermann (M Smith 82); O Duffy, A McBride, A Spain (G Armstrong 20), D Daly; A Connolly, N van Geenen, S Kenny, C Ubanezuona; T Oluwa, S Barnes (Q Nkansah 61).

CORK CITY: D Harrington; C Coleman, A Gilchrist, K O’Connor; K Coates (J Doona 59), M Healy, A Bolger, B Coffey, C Bargary; M O’Mahony (R Keating 59), C Murphy.

Referee: Daniel Murphy (Dublin).