Shelbourne overcame a disappointing first half to reach the second round of the FAI Cup thanks to a comfortable 4-0 win over Athlone Town at Tolka Park on Friday evening. Both sides struggled to get going during the first 45 with Owen Heary, in par
Shelbourne overcame a disappointing first half to reach the second round of the FAI Cup thanks to a comfortable 4-0 win over Athlone Town at Tolka Park on Friday evening.
Both sides struggled to get going during the first 45 with Owen Heary, in particular, likely to have been disappointed with his side’s start to a game that many expected them to run away with.
However, with five minutes of the first half remaining, Shels took the lead when Lorcan Fitzgerald cut-back a free into the path of new signing Patrick Kavanagh on the edge of the box. The midfielder scuffed his effort but it bounced in the box and trickled into the back of the net via an unlucky touch from Nika Kalandarishvili.
Shels had a clear game plan to get on top in the second half and were rewarded with their second goal in the 61st minute when they hit Athlone with a devastating counter attack. Evans pounced on the ball just inside the opposition half and released Karl Moore down the left.
At first it looked like he may have put too much pace on the ball but Moore managed to swing a cross into the centre of the box and Kavanagh met it to volley past Lawless The home side bagged their third in a nice team move that was all started with some lovely footwork by Shane Farrell.
He played in Rooney who crossed first time for Moorhouse to finish with aplomb seven minutes from time. The tie was now over but their was still time for Shels to grab a fourth after lovely footwork from Lorcan Fitzgerald helped him finish off another assist from Moore in injury time.
