Jinks believe Athlone can atone for earlier defeat to Longford

ATHLONE Town"s busy midfielder Colm Jinks believes his side have much to prove when they come face to face with Midlands rivals Longford Town for a second time this season in Lissywoollen on Friday (kick-off: 7.45pm). The Town suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat at the hands of Longford Town when they travelled to Flancare Park earlier in the season and received much criticism for the level of their collective performance on a truly forgettable occasion for Athlone followers. Two deflected goals early in proceedings gave Athlone an uphill task and they simply never looked like recovering in what was a first league meeting of the Midlands neighbours for twelve years. Former Athlone player Iarfhlaith Davoren finished the contest with a third goal for Longford late on. Jinks, 25, is desperate not only to avoid a repeat performance and result for Athlone, but also to earn a victory Athlone supporters can be proud of. Speaking to the "Westmeath Independent" during the build-up to Friday"s clash, Jinks said: 'We certainly didn"t do ourselves justice in Longford and were terribly disappointed with how things went. But we"ve improved a fair bit since then and tightened up a lot. We don"t seem to concede as many silly goals and are working better as a team unit. 'We"ve waited for a chance to put that poor result right and have the opportunity on Friday. We want to win for our own sake but also for the supporters and the club as a whole. I don"t really think it"s case of "wanting" to put things right though, it"s a more of a case of "needing" to put things right.' A native of Sligo, Jinks" hard-working style and tendency to get in the opposition box from midfield has helped confound the critics who often doubted him after he signed for Athlone midway through last season and failed to impress on a consistent basis. However, Jinks is a regular starter now and only suspensions have kept him from turning out in every league game this season. Jinks said: 'I"m delighted to be playing for Athlone Town and just want to figure in as many games as possible. It helps when the manager has faith in what you do. I"m happy for the team that we"ve competed better in recent weeks and the side looks much steadier in recent times. It was most frustrating when we weren"t getting results and knew we were better than what our results were showing. 'It was heartbreaking to lose in Dundalk last Thursday. It was scoreless and very close all the way until the referee robbed us of a result late on, and we were very annoyed with his decisions, but it"s important we don"t dwell on it. It ruined our recent unbeaten run but let"s start another run now. Hopefully we"ll take our recent form into the Longford game and give our supporters plenty to shout about and be proud of.'