| Mansaram brace gives Rovers the points against Longford |
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| Saturday, 03 June 2006 | |
 A Darren Mansaram brace gave Sligo Rovers three valuable points against Longford Town tonight in the Showgrounds. In a game that could easily have yielded more goals, this result puts the Bit O’Red up to sixth place in advance of the three week World Cup break.The game couldn’t have started any better for the home side when in only the third minute they took the lead. Chris Turner headed down in midfield to Darren Mansaram, but just when the former Grimsby man looked like he was going to knock it out to the wing, he swivelled onto his left striking sweetly from twenty five yards into the far corner past the helpless Kelly Longford’s first effort in anger came in the thirteenth minute courtesy of a Prunty cross that was met by Fitzgerald, but his lofted header looped just over the bar. On twenty minutes a Paisley free kick on the edge of the box was saved by O’Hara who immediately released the ball launching a counter attack that ended with McTiernan shooting wide. Rovers routed much of their play down the left and Kudozovic, who has the been the subject of some unfair criticism in the past, proved more than a handful for the opposition. However, with ten minutes remaining, it was route one for Rovers when Adam Hughes won the ball in the middle finding McTiernan outside the box, but his shot from distance, was dealt with by Kelly. As the half drew to a close the home side continued to push forward, with Mansaram at the heart of three half-chances but his shot and two crosses failed to yield rewards. Within minutes of the restart Rovers were two up. A Kudozovic back-heel to Turner put McTiernan free on the right hand side of the box. McTiernan pulled it back across the face of the goal to the back post where Mansaram was on hand to head to the net from close range. In the fifty seventh minute Rovers extended the lead thanks to Kudozovic who won a penalty that was converted by Keith Foy. Longford looked to drag themselves back onto the game a minute later but Foy did well to get back to put Bakers effort out for a conrer. The visitors got a lifeline in the fifty seventh minutes when the Bit O’Red seemed to go to sleep allowing Mooney to catch John O’Hara off guard and well off his line shooting into the net from thirty yards. The fizz went out of the game somewhat, with Longford looking the more dangerous without making any real inroads to add to their tally. Perhaps it was the soundchecks for the Sligo Live concert, but the game burst into life with fifteen minutes to go. A Gary Cronin shot from distance had O’Hara beaten but Keith Foy was on hand at the post to head clear. This seemed to lift the lethargy and Rovers sparked in to life countering immediately with Mansaram running into space for a one on one with the ‘keeper, but Kelly denied him his hat-trick. Minutes later, McTiernan did well to get a shot on target following good link play by O’Grady and Turner. Rovers were living dangerously at times and on eighty three minutes they failed to clear the lines allowing Robert Martin free on the left, to strike low, forcing a good save by O’Hara. Martin spurned another chance in the dying minutes but ultimately Rovers held on to go into the break with another three points in the bag. Teams Sligo Rovers John O’Hara, Jamie McKenzie, Michael McNamara, Liam Burns, Keith Foy, Conor O’Grady, Adam Hughes, Fahrudin Kudozovic, Chris Turner, Paul McTiernan (Matt Judge 85min), Darren Mansaram Subs: Jason McCartney, John Bellew, Gary Curran, Richard Brush Longford Town Seamus Kelly, Alan Murphy, Kevin Doherty, Robert Martin, Danny O’Connor, Stephen Paisley, Andy Myler (Dave Mooney HT), Dean Fitzgerald (Steven Gough), Dessie Baker (Alan Kirby), Gary Cronin, Sean Prunty, Subs Gary Matthews, Paul Kelly Referee: Hugo Whoriskey Assistants: Joe Cassidy, Damien McGrath, Paul Deering Bookings: Sligo Rovers:Conor O’Grady, Chris Turner, Jamie McKenzie Longford: Dessie Baker |
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