TREATY United and Athlone Town played out a scoreless draw at Lissywoollen on Saturday afternoon. The visitors had the better of the first half while Adrian Carberry’s men grew into it in the second period.
Tommy Barrett selected a familiar 4-2-3-1 formation which the former Limerick FC manager has favored throughout his Airtricity League tenure thus far.
Captain Jack Lynch started in a holding midfield role next to Matt Keane with Sean McSweeney featuring as a support striker to Dean George.
Sean Guerins made his first appearance for the club next to Clyde O’Connell at the heart of the defence with the experienced duo of Charlie Fleming and Marc Ludden at right and left full back respectively.
Keane thought he had given Treaty the lead with his first goal for the club as he made a late run to the box and bundled a Joel Coustrain cross over the line but the former Killarney man was adjudged to have handled the ball.
Shortly afterwards, his midfield partner Jack Lynch tried his luck from all of 30 yards but his effort was palmed away by an uncertain Rice. Nathan Tlou forced Tadgh Ryan into a save on the half hour mark before Ed McCarthy’s scuffed effort at the back post was blocked out for a corner which was subsequently cleared.
Treaty were continuing to create the better chances and good footwork from former Athlone man George in the area, allowed him to test Rice but the goalkeeper denied him and teammate McSweeney from the follow up.
In a very uneventful second period, the first chance of note fell to Jack Reynolds whose left-footed effort travelled wide of Cusack’s post. Captain Scott Delaney tried an audacious lob from just inside the Treaty half which had Cusack second guessing himself for a moment, but in the end the attempt sailed over the crossbar.
Both sides will meet once again next Saturday at the Markets Field at 2pm which will be the last run out before the Airtricity League First Division campaign begins on March 26th.
Athlone Town: Rice, Delaney, Dogan, Reynolds, Tlou, Watson, McCann, Wixted, Brooks, Noack-Hoffman, Mhondiwa
Treaty United: Tadgh Ryan (Shane Cusack), Charlie Fleming (Shane Lowth) , Jack Lynch (Mark Walsh), Sean Guerins (Anthony O’Donnell), Marc Ludden (Alan Murphy), Clyde O’Connell (Aaron Fitzgerald), Matt Keane (Callum McNamara), Sean McSweeney (William Armshaw), Joel Coustrain (Kieran Mahony), Ed McCarthy (Matt McKevitt), Dean George (Kieran Hanlon)
