Treaty Welcome Athlone Town to the Markets Field

Treaty United will have their first home game in a month on Friday night when they entertain Athlone Town at the Markets Field in the Airtricity League First Division (7.45).

Last weekend, Treaty resumed their campaign after the mid-season break with a 1-1 draw at Ferrycarrig Park with Wexford FC. Dean George scored a superb individual goal to open the scoring inside two minutes before Aaron Dobbs equalised just two minutes later. Although Wexford had the better of the exchanges in the first half, Tommy Barrett’s side had the better of the second half and almost grabbed all three points from a Joe Gorman header.

Unfortunately, there was an injury casualty during the game to add to Treaty’s current woes when a clash between teammates Jack Brady and Mark Walsh resulted in a suspected dislocated shoulder for the latter With Enda Curran, Willie Armshaw, Kieran Hanlon and Sean Guerins already on the treatment table, it is a development that Barrett could have done without. On the plus side, both Joel Coustrain and Steven Christopher have returned following injury.

Friday night will be the third clash between Treaty and Athlone in the Airtricity League this season. In the first meeting at the Markets Field, Treaty were 2-0 winners with a brace from George. In the return fixture at Lissywoollen just 11 days later, Success Edogun thought he had won it for Athlone in the final 10 minutes but a piledriver from Steven Christopher in the 90^th minute ensured a share of the spoils.

There are currently 15 points separating the two sides as Treaty remain in fifth on 20 points while the visitors are currently bottom of the table with 5 points. However, Dermot Lennon’s side will take plenty of confidence from gaining their first win of the season last week in an emphatic 5-2 victory over Cobh Ramblers.

Treaty are searching for their first win in 9 games against Midlanders with several draws putting a significant gap between Treaty and the top four. However, as long as the Limerick side can keep both Wexford and Bray at arm’s length, a strong play-off push in the second half of the season would see the squad’s inner objectives met.

Treaty United senior women’s team now embark on a mid-season break with their next league outing coming against Shelbourne at the Markets Field on July 2^nd. It has been a tough campaign for the team who were well on course to pick up their first win of the season last week when Aislinn Meaney gave them a 0-1 lead against Cork City at Turners Cross but second half goals from Danny Murphy’s side condemned Treaty to a winless first half of the season. Don O’Riordan will be hoping that the harsh lessons learned from the first half of the season will help his side prepare for the second series