Athlone Town were surprising winners at Kingspan Century Park on their last visit in April, but they departed the Monaghan United fortress chastened by a heavy 3-0 defeat.
United rise to fifth place in the table on the back of a win, their third in a row, secured by fine finishes from Eoin Lanigan and Andrew Haran either side of a Des Hope own goal.
A low-key first half was played out against the backdrop of intermittent torrential showers that had the hardy supporters scurrying for the cover of the stand.
From there they saw little to thrill them for the first half-hour, Athlone’s Jason McCartney meeting two enterprising crosses from the overlapping Ian Rossiter with headers that failed to threaten the goal.
Athlone’s best first half chance came after some tight interplay in the 28th minute, John Mernagh’s knockdown finding Colm Jinks whose shot sped just past the post via a deflection.
Town manager Dermot Lennon replaced the misfiring McCartney with Eric Lavine in the 36th minute but it did not produce the expected improvement as Athlone fell behind to a memorable goal.
Monaghan midfielder Sean Brennan dispossessed Joey Maloney on the left wing and found Eoin Lanigan with a sweeping cross-field pass.
Lanigan brought it under control and struck a beautiful volley from the edge of the box that flew past Athlone ‘keeper Ciaran Kelly.
Athlone displayed considerably more endeavour in the second half, pushing their corner tally into double figures and having what appeared a legitimate penalty claim turned down when David Scully appeared to divert John Mernagh’s close-range shot with his hand.
It summed up Town’s impotence in front of goal, however, when the best save forced out of Monaghan goalkeeper Brendan Kennedy came about from his own defender Aaron Mooney’s misdirected header.
The game was effectively put beyond Athlone’s reach in the 77th minute.
Monaghan substitute Andrew Haran’s clever pass precipitated a goalmouth scramble in which Town centre-back Des Hope turned the ball into his own net under heavy pressure from Scully.
Haran, making his home debut, put a gloss on the scoreline for Monaghan with seven minutes remaining, collecting Scully’s fine pass and clipping a shot past the advancing Kelly.
Monaghan United: Kennedy; McMahon, Mooney, Gartland; Whelan, Reilly (McCrossan 82), Tierney (Williamson 85), Brennan, Clancy; Lanigan (Haran 69), Scully.
Athlone Town: Kelly; Rossiter, Keady, Hope, Reilly (Hamm 77); Maloney, Jinks, Russo, McCartney (Lavine 36); Mernagh (McGee 65), Coffey.
Referee: H Whoriskey.
