Matchday 31 Preview – Treaty United -v- Athlone Town
Treaty United enter into their final six games of the season, starting this Friday with the visit of Athlone Town to Limerick.
Match Details:
Competition – SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division.
Date – Friday, September 20th.
Time – 19:45.
Venue – Markets Field, Garryowen, Limerick.
Referee – Lucas Keating
Tickets – www.TreatyUnitedFC.com/tickets
Live Coverage:
The game will be available to watch exclusively to LOITV.
A one-match game pass can be purchased for €5 or supporters can buy a Half-Season Pass to get access to games across the Women’s Premier Division and the Men’s & Women’s First Division.
Buy A Match Pass: https://www.loitv.ie/en-int/livestream/treaty-united-v-athlone-town/1790899
Buy A Half-Season Pass: https://www.loitv.ie/en-int/page/season-pass-1
The Teams
Treaty United
Treaty United sit in eighth position on 33 points, twelve points off of the final playoff spot. Treaty’s last outing saw their cup run grind to a halt as they were defeated 4-1 against Wexford FC in Ferrycarrig Park. Wexford led 4-0 at the break, grabbing their first two inside ten minutes, with Treaty grabbing a consolation goal late on through Trpimir Vrljičak. The Croatian grabbed his third goal for the club and proved to be a handful on Friday.
This extends Treaty’s recent poor form to four games without a win, but must concerning is that they have conceded 13 goals in that time. Treaty have the fourth best defensive record in the First Division despite their recent poor form, and Tommy Barrett will be keen for his side to get back to basics on Friday and tighten up at the back.
Barrett does have a lot of injury worries to contend with as Fionn Doherty (hamstring), Lee Devitt, Enda Curran (shoulder) and Ben O’Riordan (nose) all left the field of play prematurely. It remains to be seen if Jack Kavanagh will return from injury having last featured in mid-August, while Adam O’Halloran could return to the matchday squad to help bolster Tommy Barrett’s midfield options.
Athlone Town
Sitting in fifth place on 45 points, Athlone fell to FAI Cup defeat by the same scoreline at home to Drogheda United last Friday with Dean Ebbe grabbing a late consolation for the home side. The Midlanders were outsiders to beat Drogheda, but it does continue their recent poor form which has now seen them lose four games in a row and win just one of their last eight games.
Athlone have thrived in front of goal and a lot of that can be attributed to Dean Ebbe who has scored 13 goals in 33 league and cup games for the club. Recent additions in Leo Gaxha and Kyle Robinson have further strengthened their attacking prowess, while Aaron Connolly has chipped in with goals from midfield on occasion.
Previous Encounters
This fixture has favoured Treaty United overall, but Athlone have had great joy this season with three wins from three meetings. The Markets Field has proven to be a difficult place for Athlone who have only picked up a win and a draw from seven trips, but they will take confidence in having picked up the win on their last trip to Limerick back in May.
Treaty United Wins – 7
Draws – 3
Athlone Town Wins – 4
