Kerley slams 'unacceptable' decisions after derby defeat

ATHLONE Town manager Mike Kerley was left utterly bewildered after his team was denied what appeared a couple of definite penalties, including one in the dying stages, during last Friday's 2-1 Midlands derby defeat to Longford Town. With only two minutes left on the clock, Athlone attacker Mark Sherlock was fouled in the penalty area by Longford defender Noel Haverty, but instead of awarding a penalty, as expected by almost everyone in the ground, referee Phil Caschera gave a free-out to Longford, and booked Sherlock for a perceived dive. Sherlock was shown a second yellow card, followed by a red, for the incident, and Athlone were denied a marvellous opportunity to get an equaliser. The Athlone striker had earlier cancelled out Colm James' opener for Longford, but at that stage Athlone were 2-1 behind, after Haverty netted for the visitors on the hour mark. Sherlock was also denied a penalty in the first half, following a clumsy challenge by Thomas Crawley, but again, referee Caschera (from Dublin) was not interested in loud Athlone appeals, and waved play-on. Speaking afterwards, Kerley said it's "unacceptable" for a referee to miss "two blatant penalty decisions". The normally mild-mannered Kerley was clearly disturbed by the decisions, saying: "The one at the end is clearly a penalty, simple as that. The defender that tackled Mark even admitted (after the match) it should've been a penalty, and how the referee hasn't seen it is unbelievable." "That's actually four definite penalties we've been denied this season, but these ones were just remarkable. It's a further kick in the teeth that the referee booked Mark (in the aftermath of the penalty appeal), and we lose him for a game through suspension," continued Kerley. "The incident before half-time, again involving Mark, was also a definite penalty. A few of the Longford players have admitted both were penalties, so I don't know where we go from there. If the referee gets the decisions correct then we're sitting here talking about an Athlone win. His decisions were that important to the game's outcome. For the second one, Mark is clearly in on goal, and actually does his best to stay on his feet, before then getting a shot in. He tried to stay up and most definitely didn't dive. Referees have got to understand the game, but there was no evidence of him understanding it tonight." Kerley said Athlone deserved to take something from the game, but again referred to the referee's decisions when summing up the match. "Apart from Longford's two goals, I don't really remember Pat Jennings having to make too many saves. I thought we were very much in the game throughout, though it was a bit scrappy at times. You're going to get that with local derbies. We played some good stuff at times, but probably lacked a bit of cutting edge going forward. We had enough chances to take something from the game, but again the two penalty decisions are critical to the outcome. It's very frustrating but there's nothing we can do about poor decisions. You're not allowed talk to referees, and get a suspension if you question them," said Kerley. Town to face Cork in FAI Cup Meanwhile, Athlone have been given a very tough draw in the second round of the FAI Cup, as they were paired away to Premier Division Cork City in Monday night's draw. Cork were the winners of last season's First Division, and though they've only won twice in nine Premier Division games this season, will be extremely stiff opposition for Athlone. The game will have major significance for Athlone's recently appointed new CEO, John O'Sullivan, who played an integral role in Cork's survival when the club hit financial difficulties a few years ago. O'Sullivan is a former chairman of Cork City. Athlone are again likely to be without full-backs Ross Kenny and Joe Woods (both injured) for Saturday's trip to Finn Harps (7.45pm). But they hope to have Kevin Williamson available after he missed last weekend's game through work commitments. Mark Sherlock will serve a suspension following his controversial dismissal last weekend. In the previous meeting of the clubs this season, Athlone beat Finn Harps 2-0 thanks to a Noel McGee brace. Meanwhile, both Garvan Broughall and Stephen Relihan will miss five to six weeks of the season, as they're both travelling to the United States at the end of May.