DESPITE the flurry of chances at St. Mel's Park on Saturday night, Kildare County had to settle for a share of the spoils against Athlone Town in what was another pleasing performance from John Ryan's side.
Having been knocked out of the League Cup four days earlier, it was a more familiar Kildare County side which took to the field although goalkeeper and team captain Brendan Kennedy was forced to miss out due to suspension. Republic Of Ireland Colleges 'keeper Carl Donnelly deputised for Kennedy.
Athlone had the better of the opening exchanges and they could have taken the lead the lead on nine minutes but a Padraig Moran header was just off target following an Ian Rossiter cross.
Four minutes later, Rossiter then lined up a shot for himself but his effort was well saved by Donnelly as County soaked up the early pressure from the home side. Kildare got more into the game in the final quarter of the half and Derek Delaney looked to have broken the deadlock when he beat O'Leary with his shot but Rossiter somehow managed to clear his effort off the line.
The second half proved a much more livelier affair with County marginally on top but they were in bad luck on 52 minutes when defender John Reilly was deemed to have been bundled over in the area by Athlone centre half Silke.
John Ryan introduced David Scully with 25 minutes remaining and after the striker was also impeded in the penalty area, this time by Athlone substitute Petro, he set up Alan Mulcahy for a good opportunity but Mulcahy's shot was off target.
Athlone pushed forward more in the final quarter in search for a winner and after Mullan show wide from Istvan Lakato's throw in, Moran had a shot from the edge of the box saved by Donnelly.
Dave Scully should have done better with his shot on 82 minutes but Athlone very nearly stole it right at the end when Brian McCarthy flicked into the path of substitute Mullan but although his shot managed to beat Donnelly, Philip Byrne did superbly to get back and make a last ditch clearance.
A hard earned point for Kildare County and with two more tough assignments to come this week, manager John Ryan is hoping that his side can add to their four points so far this season.
"We played reasonably well against Athlone and while we easily could have won the game, we could have lost it right at the death so a draw wasn't a bad result. Just like the Dublin City game, it was a good performance by the lads and I was happy with how they did overall," said John.
"We have two hard games now coming up having to play away to Limerick (last night) and Cobh Ramblers but I will be hoping that we can get results from both games. A good result in either game will set us up nicely for the Kilkenny City game the following week."
"We have started off well enough and it's a good sign that we have got our first win a good bit earlier than last season.
"The two games against Finn Harps and Shamrock Rovers were too hard to weigh up as we had a player sent off in both games when we were still on level terms. Hopefully we can get some good results in our next few games though and move up the table," added the Kildare boss.
ATHLONE TOWN: O'Leary, Rossiter, Collins, Silke, Sheridan, Fortune, Lakatos, Hope, McGee, Rushe, Moran.
Subs: Mullan for McGee (60 mins), Petro for Rossiter (65 mins), McCarthy for Lakatos (85 mins).
COUNTY: Donnelly, O'Mara, Clancy, Reilly, McCrossan, P. Byrne, Cooling, A. Byrne, Malone, McKenna, Delaney.
Subs: Scully for P. Byrne (55 mins), Mulcahy for McKenna (73 mins).
REFEREE: M Gough.