Champions League second qualifying round: Athlone Town 2 (Brady 12, Molloy 51) Crvena Zvezda 0
Athlone Town’s European adventures will continue after a superb 2-0 win over Serbia’s Crvena Zvezda, aka Red Star Belgrade, in the Netherlands on Saturday. That result gave them a third-place finish in their Champions League second qualifying round group, earning them a place in tomorrow’s draw for the first qualifying round of the Europa Cup.
Red Star began the game the brighter, Megan Plaschko having to make a smart save from Sofija Sremcevic before Nikolina Hadzibabic hit the post with a shot from the edge of the box. But they handed the initiative to the Irish champions in the 12th minute when a loose pass from their goalkeeper Jovana Petrovic was intercepted by Madie Gibson, her fellow American Kelly Brady slotting home her pass.
Two minutes later Roisin Molloy thought she had doubled the lead when she fired home following a corner, but an offside Brady was adjudged to have obstructed the goalkeeper. Athlone came close again to making it 2-0 soon after when Brady’s long range shot hit the crossbar, Colin Fortune’s side well on top by the break.
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A fine move up the left in the opening minutes of the second half ended with Alexis Strickland going just wide, but the second goal came in the 50th minute thanks to a brilliant Gibson-Molloy combination. Gibson whipped in a peach of a cross from the left, Molloy rising high to head it past Petrovic.
Gibson almost made it 3-0 five minutes later when her shot was cleared off the line by a defender after Hannah Waesch picked her out, but chances for either side were rare enough thereafter. Kayleigh Shine, excellent all game at the back, thwarted Red Star with a crucial block from their best opportunity.
Athlone, playing their third game in a week, tired as the game wore on, but Waesch and Kate Slevin, the Galway Gaelic footballer, had a solid hold in midfield, Red Star unable to find the space to cause their opponents any damage.
Athlone, then, go in to the draw for the first qualifying round of the inaugural Europa Cup, along with the likes of Inter Milan, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Glasgow City, the latter featuring Irish internationals Emily Whelan and Erin McLaughlin. They will play their opponents home and away, on September 10/11 and 17/18.
Athlone Town: Plaschko, K Brennan, Shine, S Brennan, McNally, Waesch, Slevin, Strickland (Rice, 89), Molloy, Brady, Gibson.
Referee: Minka Vekkeli (Finland).
