Athlone comeback to secure share of the spoils with Dundalk

The visitors proceeded to dominate the rest of the half but had to wait until stoppage time to have their best chance of doubling the lead.

Fri, 03 Oct, 2025 - 21:43

John Dingle

SSE Airtricity First Division: Athlone Town 1 (Connolly 71') Dundalk 1 (McDaid 7')

Athlone Town halted Dundalk’s charge back to the Premier Division when they held the League leaders to a draw.

Dundalk opened the scoring after 7 minutes when former Athlone player Declan McDaid sent a low shot from the edge of the penalty area past the home goalkeepers left. The visitors proceeded to dominate the rest of the half but had to wait until stoppage time to have their best chance of doubling the lead.

Earlier Gbemi Arubi headed over, McDaid had a shot saved while Conor O’Keeffe directed a looping header over the bar. In the first additional minute, Dundalk launched a counter attack which saw Eoin Kenny in space on the right but his shot was blocked by Andrew Stuart-Trainor to keep Athlone in contention. The hosts had few chances to score in the half as they were mainly on the defensive.

Athlone were more positive when play resumed with Dylan Hand heading Reece Webb’s free kick wide. An even better chance saw half time substitute Jason Oyenuga denied by Peter Cherrie who pushed his shot behind at the near post.

Dundalk though were denied a second by the woodwork just after the hour mark when Aodh Dervins effort cracked off the post. Another half time sub celebrated his return after a lay off with the equaliser on 71 minutes. Aaron Connolly drilled a free kick from the edge of the box to the net to shock the table toppers. Norman Garbett and Eoin Kenny had late chances for a Dundalk winner.

Athlone Town: Stuart-Trainor, Thiam (Oyenuga H/T), McKenna (Connolly H/T), Hand, Omorehiomwan, Feeney (Doyle 78), Quinn, Lawless, Tetteh (Lennon 78), Webb, Adewale (Duffy 87).

Dundalk: Cherrie, O’Keeffe, Animasahun, Dervin, Arubi (Ebbe 84), Leonard, Kenny, Paraschiv (Garbett 68), Tracey (Groome 68), McDaid (Horgan 75), Wilson.

Referee: Ryan Maher (Dublin)