Dean's double helps Athlone hold St Pat's

Athlone Town 3 St Patrick's Athletic 3

By John Dingle

Athlone Town got the 2025 campaign off to a good start when they held St Patrick's Athletic to a draw in their first Leinster Cup group game at home last Friday night.

The Premier Division team was in front on three occasions but each time the Town fought back to draw level. Brandon Kavanagh was the Saints' hero grabbing a hat trick while Dean Williams celebrated his return to Athlone with a double. Ben Feeney also capped his Town debut with the last score of a six-goal thriller.

With the fixture reversed at short notice having originally been fixed for Dublin, Athlone were hoping to make the unexpected home advantage count against a strong St Pat's team. The Town had only one pre-season friendly under their belts (a 5-0 defeat to Sligo Rovers) as their new look eleven tried to quickly gel.

It eventually finished a point apiece with the home team working hard to gain reward. The visitors went into the contest having already won both their opening games and did not take long to settle when in pursuit of another three points in the group stages.

Kavanagh had the first chance when seeing his shot saved but did not have long to wait to find the net. On nine minutes, Athlone lost possession midway inside their own half. Kavanagh took advantage to then advance to the edge of the penalty area and fire past Lee Axworthy Duggan.

Stephen Kenny’s men looked to add to their early advantage and Kavanagh had two further chances to add to his goal tally. The first attempt went wide while the second saw the ball blocked by the keeper’s legs for the first corner kick of the contest. Conor Carty then headed a left wing cross wide as the visitors dominated.

But the Saints were shocked when Athlone drew level after 25 minutes. Williams, from the left edge of the six yard box, showed some neat footwork to first control and then fire the ball to the net.

It was one of the few chances that fell the Town's way in the first half and the Saints recovered to head off for the break with the lead. Chris Forrester had a shot saved and another corner was earned as the Premier Division outfit looked to go back in front.

Kavanagh was again on target after 34 minutes as his low shot from the left edge of the penalty box beat the keeper. A hat-trick should have been completed late in the half but the Saints striker volleyed wide a right wing cross and then also blasted another opportunity off target.

Athlone, with five debutants and two returnees, looked disjointed at times but still provided the Saints with some problems.

There was little action in the opening stages of the second half but Athlone were celebrating when Williams struck again after 56 minutes in what was the first noteworthy action following the resumption.

The striker had enjoyed a good spell in the Midlands when previously on loan from Shamrock Rovers and showed he had lost little of his goal scoring ability on his return. Most recently with League champions Shelbourne, Williams was fouled by Romal Palmer in the box and slotted home the resulting penalty kick as goalkeeper Daniel Rogers remained rooted to his goal line.

Parity was short lived, however, as within a minute, the visitors had again restored their lead. Kavanagh was allowed to turn and fire a low shot to the net for an instant response.

The hat-trick hero was soon being replaced as Kenny made four changes with Athlone also bringing on a quartet as their scorer Williams too was sacrificed. Declan McDaid and Billy Gilmore came on to make their Athlone debuts.

Aidan Keena was one of those Saints subs brought on just before the hour mark and the Westmeath native was denied a goal following his introduction by the woodwork after 71 minutes.

The home team made the most of the let off to get back on level terms for a third time with ten minutes remaining. John Ross Wilson sent in a cross from the right and former Bray Wanderers player Feeney stooped to direct a header from close range past the keeper’s right. It completed the scoring in the game but the Saints should have made it a third win in the competition late on.

Athlone became more dominant having again drawn level but could not complete the comeback as they pushed for a fourth goal. Another Saints corner was followed by Palmer shooting over and Keena trying his luck with a speculative long range effort which went wide.

Wilson was also off target for the hosts but Mullingar man Keena missed a glorious chance to surely win the game for the Dubliners with just two minutes remaining. With only the keeper to beat, Keena blasted wide of the target as Athlone survived.

An injury to Forrester then saw the referee blow early for full time. Neither team would have been complaining at the outcome with St Pat's most likely progressing as group winners and Athlone looking favourites to join them in the knockout stages.

Man of the match: Brandon Kavanagh (St Patrick's Athletic). It’s hard to deny the award to a player that collects the match ball and Kavanagh had a number of good chances before eventually grabbing his hat-trick.

Athlone Town: Lee Axworthy Duggan, Cole Omorehiomwan, Ben Feeney, Bastien Hery, John Ross Wilson, Adam Wixted, Dean Williams, Dan McKenna, Dylan Hand, Kyle O’Connor, Aaron Connolly. Subs: Brian Torre, Declan McDaid, Billy Gilmore and Kyle Robinson for Wixted, Williams, O’Connor and McKenna (58 mins); Noe Baba for Omorehiomwan (70).

St Patrick's Athletic: Daniel Rogers, Sean Hoare, Tom Grivosti, Chris Forrester, Jason McClelland, Brandon Kavanagh, Conor Carty, Romal Palmer, Ryan McLaughlin, Simon Power, Al-Amin Kazeem. Subs: Anto Breslin, Aidan Keena, Barry Baggley and Jake Mulraney for McClelland, Kavanagh, Carty and McLaughlin (59 mins).

Referee: Aaron O’Dowd (Dublin).