WHEN Casey Howe bagged her 10th goal of the season for Athlone Town on Saturday afternoon, the commentator referred to the Maguiresbridge player as “the in-form Casey Howe,” as she cut through the middle to slot her left-footed shot to the net.
The 21-year-old has enjoyed a brilliant season so far at The Town and on Saturday her goal against Shamrock Rovers set them on their way to recording a 2-1 win and going top of the SSE Airticity Women’s Premier Division table.
“We’re delighted, if we win now on Saturday we can stay on top for a while with the international break and cup games coming up,” said Howe, ahead of this Saturday’s game against second from the bottom, DLR Waves FC.
“But, we’re only half way through the season” warned Howe, “we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves yet but it’s just good being up and around the top of the table and hopefully it’ll be the same come the end of the season.”
After making the move from Sligo Rovers, Howe has seamlessly embedded into Ciaran Kilduff’s side and she is enjoying their style of play;
“We try to play on the front foot, just attack at every opportunity going forward – being direct and scoring goals. Our manager was an attacking player himself, so he’s really instilled that constant attacking style of football into us.”
Howe has bagged some quality goals for her team and that’s something she has been working hard on;
“It’s something I’ve tried to add to my game, scoring from loads of different positions and different angles and the training for that has really been paying off and hopefully I can continue that for the rest of the season and add more to the tally.”
Howe’s recent form saw her get her first competitive Northern Ireland cap against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European Qualifiers back in April. She was only minutes on the field when she provided the assist for Northern Ireland’s final goal in their 3-1 win.
She came off the bench in both Portugal defeats and has been named in the Northern Ireland squad for Malta away on July 12 followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina at Windsor Park on July 16.
Northern Ireland sit third in League B3 with four points behind top of the table Portugal on 12 and Bosnia Herzegovina on six.
Oxtoby’s side can make the Euro 2025 play-offs if they beat Malta.
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