Athenry 6 V 2 Barna/Furbo
Date: 11/9/10; Venue: Athenry
Scorers: Dermot O’ Halloran, (3) Thomas Hennelly, Aaran Van Nikierk, Conor Lally
Athenry Team
Goalkeeper
Darragh Murphy
Defenders
Darragh Conlon, Shane Ward, Shane O’Reilly, Steven Morris
Midfielders
Conor Lally, Thomas Hennelly, Dermot O’Hallaron, Ciaran O’Dwyer
Forwards
Aaron Osborne, Darragh Rohan
Subs
Simon Brody, Mark Donnellan, Darragh Keane, Aaron Van Niekerk, Ronan Byrne
Match Report
On a sunny Sunday’s afternoon Athenry began their season in a new look 1st division, one in which they will feel they will be very capable of competing for the top spot. The game began well for Athenry winning a corner very early. A new look tactic for Athenry saw them take the lead from the resulting corner. Summer signing Conor Lally swung in a fantastic corner to the back post where Dermot O’Hallaron was on hand to fire home. It wasn’t long before Athenry doubled their lead in the same fashion. A Lally corner was once again met by a Dermot O’Hallaron volley to give Athenry a 2-0 lead. With 10 minutes left in the half Athenry were in dream land finding themselves three nil up. A change in corner tactics saw a huge mix up in the Barna defence, where a defender ended up heading into his own net. Barna began to frustrate Athenry which led to led neutrals to believe they were in for a fantastic second half as tempers flew all over. Barna began the half the better. They scored two quick-fire goals in which neither centre-back could be blamed. Shane Ward and Shane O’Reilly commanded the back line fantastically and made sure the Barna forwards were aware of their presence. Manager Gerry Kilkenny made a double swap which saw Aaron Van Niekerk replace an injured Darragh Rohan, and Ronan Byrne replace Darragh Conlon. The next goal in this game would be crucial, and luckily for Athenry it was them who got it. Fantastic work from Ciaran O’Dwyer saw Aaron Osborne put through on goal. Aaron ran through tremendously shaking off defenders as he went. His effort rattled off the bar, but O’Hallaron was on hand to finish off his hat-trick with an excellent header. It wasn’t long before Athenry were out of sight; Aaron Van Niekerk went on a fantastic run down the right wing which resulted in him scoring a spectacular goal from a tight angle. Minutes later Aaron Osborne drove through the Barna back four and swung the ball towards the back post where Thomas Hennelly was on hand to finish it off. Osborne Completely bossed the Barna defenders through out the game. More substitutions were made which saw Darragh “bomber” Keane replace Steven Morris, Mark Donnellan replacing Aaron Osborne, and Simon Brody replacing Thomas Hennelly. Steven Morris was outstanding in a new found left back position, new signing Conor Lally was only bet to man of the match due to Dermot O’Hallaron's hat-trick, and Simon Brody made his first appearance in eight months due to injury and it was a great bonus to see him back!