Athlone Town 1
Treaty United 4
Andrew Cunneen reports from Lissywollen
TREATY UNITED CONTINUED their dream campaign with a convincing victory in Athlone on Friday night – extending the gap between the sides to 11 points.
Goals from Ed McCarthy, Jack Lynch and Sean McSweeney highlighted the local edge to a side that are far greater than the sum of their individual parts, before Marc Ludden completed the scoring.
Kurtis Byrne grabbed a consolation, but it did little to take away from the visitors’ dominance.
Although the focus here was firmly on league matters – being the standout tie on the night in the division – both sides made their own headlines in the FAI Cup last week.
Treaty United welcomed the holders Dundalk to the Markets Field for their first-ever tie in the competition. Despite the pre-match predictions, it took the Lilywhites 120 minutes to see off the First Division outfit.
That result was given a form boost after Vinny Perth’s charges went to Tallinn and won, too.
Athlone’s exploits might not have been as impressive, but they were aesthetically pleasing:Glen McAuley was seen all around the world when his 124th-minute strike from the halfway line found the net before losing on spot kicks.
The hosts kicked off, but McAuley opted to pass, much to the disappointment of the 500 or so in attendance.
That would be the last meaningful touch he’d have in the opening 45 minutes as Treaty United’s efficient nature saw them look more dangerous every time they went forward.
Athlone welcomed two new signings to their starting XI – Conor Barry and Tunmise Sabowale – and while clearly talented, they seemed to be out of sync with the players around them.
If the scheduling helped Tommy Barrett and co, they did everything they could to maximise the return on that stroke of fortune.
Kieran Hanlon is a seismic weapon when it comes to holding the ball up and his contribution through the opening 35 minutes was limited to almost exclusively that.
But on the one occasion where he had space to turn, he looked up and saw Ed McCarthy – who was the standout last week against Dundalk – timing his run perfectly in between Aidan Friel and Dylan Hand.
The Moyross native’s first touch wasn’t fantastic, but he set himself with the second and slotted brilliantly into the far corner, past Schlingermann.
While the game was hanging in the balance for most of the second half, a moment of brilliance from Treaty captain Jack Lynch put it to bed. His curling effort hung in the air for a few seconds before nestling gorgeously out of reach of the Athlone stopper.
Moments later, Sean McSweeney ended it as a contest – finishing Stephen Christopher’s pullback with relative ease.
Marc Ludden and Kurtis Byrne exchanged late strikes, too.
Treaty moved into second spot courtesy of goals scored, and now are the nearest contenders to runaway leaders Shelbourne.
Athlone Town: Micheal Schlingermann; Aidan Friel, Dylan Hand, Garry Comerford, David Brookes (Stephen Meaney, 69); Tunmise Sabowale (Jamie Hollywood, 55), Dan McKenna; Jack Reynolds (James Doona, 55), Conor Barry (Kurtis Byrne, 55), Derek Daly (Ray O’Sullivan, 90); Glen McAuley.
Treaty United: Tadhg Ryan; Charlie Fleming, Clyde O’Connell, Mark Walsh, Marc Ludden; Ed McCarthy (Joel Coustrain, 46), Jack Lynch (Joe Collins, 85), Callum McNamara, Stephen Christopher (Conor Melody, 85); Sean McSweeney; Kieran Hanlon (Matt McKevitt, 85).
First Division Results
Athlone Town 1-4 Treaty United
Cabinteely 0-3 Bray Wanderers
Cork City 1-1 UCD
Shelbourne 2-2 Cobh Ramblers
Wexford 1-3 Galway United
