Offaly duo prepare for FAI Cup semi final

Two Offaly footballers are preparing for an FAI Cup semi-final this weekend in the colours of Athlone Town.

Scott Delaney from Rahan and Jack Reynolds from Clara are part of Athlone Town's squad for the televised semi-final against kingpins Dundalk in the Athlone Town Stadium in Lissywollen on Sunday, kick off 7.05pm.

Scott is Athlone's vice-captain and was captain on the pitch for the quarter-final victory over Shelbourne, in the absence of club captain John Morgan.

An experienced central defender, he plied his trade with Tullamore and Athlone clubs St Peter's and, most recently, Willow Park, before joining Athlone Town at the start of the season.

Reynolds, who is just 18, has also been a regular fixture in the Athlone line up and also started the quarter-final success against Shelbourne.

Delaney is in no doubt about the significant of the game. “The Dundalk game is massive”, he says.

He says the scale of the task facing his side is shown by the calibre of the opponents Dundalk have been facing.

The Louth outfit played Rapid Vienna in the Europa League (last night, Thursday) and will host Arsenal in the coming weeks.

“Hopefully, they'll have an eye on Europe and we'll catch them on the hop. We'll give it a go and see if we can bring off a big shock,” he told the Offaly Independent.

With a young team, Athlone found results difficult to come by in the start of the season, which Scott acknowledges was “a learning curve”.

He says the club produced a few good results during the second half of the season, including a 4-1 home win against Premier Division outfit Shelbourne in the quarter final.

“It was a great performance on the day by everyone. Everything sort of clicked,” he said.

It's something Athlone will hope to replicate on Sunday.