Athlone Town were denied a place in the last four of the FAI Carlsberg Cup thanks to two late goals from Shamrock Rovers in a 2-1 victory at Dubarry Park.
Michael O’Connor’s homeside stormed out of the traps and forced all of the early play.
Athlone’s first chance came after only two mintues when Noel McGee forced a save from Rovers keeper Barry Murphy. The ball flashed across the face of goal from the resulting corner-kick.
Rovers’ first chance came after 11 minutes when Padraig Amond shot straight into the arms of Danny O’Leary after breaking through from midfield.
On 19 minutes, McGee laid the ball out wide to Eric Lavine on the left wing. He cut back inside before shooting into the side netting.
The visiting side almost took an unlikely lead on 24 minutes. The ball was only half cleared and when it fell to Ger Rowe, his shot clipped the bar with O’Leary beaten.
A free-kick unexpectedly came to McGee in the box, but the ball was taken off his toe before he could react after 26 minutes.
The chances continued to come and Colin Fortune curled a shot just over the bar on 35 minutes after Steven Gavin’s cross wasn’t fully cleared.
Fortune put his next effort to better use when swinging in a free-kick from the right touchline. Big centre-half Jim Sheridan met the free at the back post, and thumped the ball to the back of the net.
Athlone almost doubled their lead a minute later when McGee again forced a great save from Rovers 'keeper Barry Murphy.
The second half failed to match the first, but Rovers did have a great chance four minutes in.
Danny O’Leary produced a great save from Amond at point-blank range, with David Cassidy blasting the rebound over from three yards.
A Colin Fortune free-kick from the edge of the box was spilled by Murphy on 78 minutes, but there was no-one in Athlone colours on hand to follow up.
Steven Gavin almost wrapped the tie up for Athlone with eight minutes remaining.
The midfielder went on a run down the middle before shooting from the edge of the box. Murphy was beaten, but the ball crashed off the inside of the post before crawling across the face of goal, just on the wrong side of the line from Athlone’s point of view.
Within two minutes, the sides were level. An Athlone clearance was blocked back into the box by a Rovers player. The ball bounced to Ger Rowe and he sent a looping header past Danny O’Leary in the Athlone goal.
Rovers broke Athlone hearts with a minute remaining in normal time. A scrappy ball into the box saw Robbie Clarke play a one-two with Rowe before slotting the ball past O’Leary, booking Rovers’ place in the semi-finals in the process.
Athlone Town: Danny O’Leary, Ian Rossiter, Kevin Williamson, Des Hope, Jim Sheridan, Colin Fortune, Steven Gavin, Damien Rushe, Eric Lavine, Noel McGee, Padraig Moran: Subs: Adrian Carberry for Moran (52), Steve Feeney for Rushe (78).
Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy, Ger O’Brien, Robbie Clarke, Aidan Price, Ray Kenny, Vinnie Perth, Jamie Duffy, David Cassidy, Padraig Amond, Ger Rowe, Dave O’Connor. Subs: Eric McGill for O’Connor (47).
Referee: Dave McKeon (Dublin).
