Uefa Champions League second round qualifying third-place play-off
ŽFK Crvena Zvezda 0
Athlone Town 2
ATHLONE TOWN’S BRILLIANT European adventure continues apace.
The Midlanders have etched their name into history as they will soon become the first Irish side to compete in the Uefa Women’s Europa Cup.
A 2-0 win over ŽFK Crvena Zvezda (AKA Red Star Belgrade) secured their progression to the qualifying rounds of the inaugural European second-tier competition.
Goals in either half from Kelly Brady and Roisin Molloy helped Colin Fortune’s side to a famous victory in Enschede, the Netherlands.
Icelandic champions Breiðablik ended Athlone’s Champions League qualifying bid after a 3-1 second round qualifying semi-final defeat on Wednesday, but their Europa Cup hopes remained alive in the third-place play-off.
Athlone made two changes as they played their third game in eight days: Last Saturday, the defending Women’s Premier Division champions returned to the top of the table after a crucial win over Shelbourne. First-choice left-back Shauna Brennan returned to the XI, replacing Sarah Rice, while Kate Slevin started ahead of captain Izzy Groves.
Crvena Zvezda, meanwhile, came into this game after a 6-0 defeat to FC Twente, hosts of this mini-tournament.
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Athlone celebrate at the end of the game. Frank Uijlenbroek / INPHO
Frank Uijlenbroek / INPHO / INPHO
The Serbian champions began on the front foot, with Athlone ‘keeper Megan Plaschko stepping up with a big save early doors. Sofia Sremcevic and Nikolina Hadzibabic both went close, the latter hitting the post.
With 12 minutes on the clock, Athlone broke the deadlock against the run of play.
Brady, their top goalscorer in domestic fare, opened her European account with a straightforward finish.
The Irish side pressed their opponents high, and in-form winger Madie Gibson — captain on the day — capitalised on a defensive error to play her fellow US-born attacker in.
As Athlone settled, the chances kept coming. Three minutes later, Brady rattled the crossbar, and then, Molloy saw a goal ruled out.
Athlone’s other flying winger thought she had scored her third European goal from range, but Brady was adjudged to have interfered with play and it was chalked off.
With belief and momentum in abundance after earlier Champions League wins over Cardiff City (4-0) and ŽNK Agram (3-0), Fortune’s side kept pushing in another encouraging team performance.
Six minutes into the second half, Molloy got her rewards.
Gibson was the provider once more, sending in a typically pinpoint cross from the left for her opposite number to head home.
Gibson to Molloy! How many times have we said that this season 🙌
Crvena Zvezda had some chances, so too Athlone — Gibson in particular — who were generally comfortable as they saw out victory through a scrappy endgame.
They celebrated jubilantly with the travelling support, as a superb debut European run continues into next month at least.
Athlone will learn their Europa Cup fate in tomorrow’s draw, with the first qualifying round two-legged ties scheduled to commence the week of 10-11 September.
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Athlone Town beat Red Star to secure Europa Cup qualifying spot
Uefa Champions League second round qualifying third-place play-off
ŽFK Crvena Zvezda 0
Athlone Town 2
ATHLONE TOWN’S BRILLIANT European adventure continues apace.
The Midlanders have etched their name into history as they will soon become the first Irish side to compete in the Uefa Women’s Europa Cup.
A 2-0 win over ŽFK Crvena Zvezda (AKA Red Star Belgrade) secured their progression to the qualifying rounds of the inaugural European second-tier competition.
Goals in either half from Kelly Brady and Roisin Molloy helped Colin Fortune’s side to a famous victory in Enschede, the Netherlands.
Icelandic champions Breiðablik ended Athlone’s Champions League qualifying bid after a 3-1 second round qualifying semi-final defeat on Wednesday, but their Europa Cup hopes remained alive in the third-place play-off.
Athlone made two changes as they played their third game in eight days: Last Saturday, the defending Women’s Premier Division champions returned to the top of the table after a crucial win over Shelbourne. First-choice left-back Shauna Brennan returned to the XI, replacing Sarah Rice, while Kate Slevin started ahead of captain Izzy Groves.
Crvena Zvezda, meanwhile, came into this game after a 6-0 defeat to FC Twente, hosts of this mini-tournament.
The Serbian champions began on the front foot, with Athlone ‘keeper Megan Plaschko stepping up with a big save early doors. Sofia Sremcevic and Nikolina Hadzibabic both went close, the latter hitting the post.
With 12 minutes on the clock, Athlone broke the deadlock against the run of play.
Brady, their top goalscorer in domestic fare, opened her European account with a straightforward finish.
The Irish side pressed their opponents high, and in-form winger Madie Gibson — captain on the day — capitalised on a defensive error to play her fellow US-born attacker in.
As Athlone settled, the chances kept coming. Three minutes later, Brady rattled the crossbar, and then, Molloy saw a goal ruled out.
Athlone’s other flying winger thought she had scored her third European goal from range, but Brady was adjudged to have interfered with play and it was chalked off.
With belief and momentum in abundance after earlier Champions League wins over Cardiff City (4-0) and ŽNK Agram (3-0), Fortune’s side kept pushing in another encouraging team performance.
Six minutes into the second half, Molloy got her rewards.
Gibson was the provider once more, sending in a typically pinpoint cross from the left for her opposite number to head home.
Crvena Zvezda had some chances, so too Athlone — Gibson in particular — who were generally comfortable as they saw out victory through a scrappy endgame.
They celebrated jubilantly with the travelling support, as a superb debut European run continues into next month at least.
Athlone will learn their Europa Cup fate in tomorrow’s draw, with the first qualifying round two-legged ties scheduled to commence the week of 10-11 September.
ŽFK Crvena Zvezda: Jovana Petrović (Andrea Manojlović 89); Tijana Djordjević, Anđela Milovanović, Milica Šarić, Anja Medić (Dajana Spasojevic HT); Ivana Malijar (Nadja Uvalin 75), Dejana Stefanović, Ana Šćepanović; Sofija Sremčević (Marija Burgić 75), Nikolina Hadžibabić, Krstina Tanasković (Mirela Tenkov 75)
Athlone Town: Megan Plaschko; Kellie Brennan, Kayleigh Shine, Natalie McNally, Shauna Brennan; Kate Slevin, Hannah Waesch, Alexis Strickland (Sarah Rice 89); Roisin Molloy, Kelly Brady, Madie Gibson.
Referee: Minka Vekkeli (Finland).
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Athlone Euro Dreams History makers up the town