SLIGO ROVERS 1                                      Dublin City 1
Low  74                                                   Gallagher (OG) 3
Date:Thur,24 Mar2005, @ 7:45 pm  Venue: Tolka Park
Attendance: 400 Sponsor: n/a
Jackand Jones Man of the Match: n/a
A superb second half Kupono Low free kick cancelled out an own goal and a missed penalty to give Rovers a deserved point in last night's eircom League clash away to Dublin City.

With only one change - Gareth Gorman replacing Jason McCartney on the left wing - from the team that faced Kildare in the season opener, Sean Connor's team is already looking settled.

But it wasn't only the line-up that had a familiar feel to it in Tolka Park, as Rovers, for the second match in succession, found themselves a goal behind in the early minutes.

Pushing forward in the third minute, a strike from Ray Scully looked to be going wide until it deflected off Philip Gallagher and past John O'Hara into the net.

So for the second time in five days, the Bit O'Red found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreline against a side tipped for the top, and once more, they responded. They didn't panic, but instead, battened down the hatches, put the ball on the ground and let it do their talking.

It was a scrappy first half, along the same battle lines of Saturday night. Rovers looking the better side with a mix of creativity and stability in the middle, and the physically stronger home side seeking to take the direct approach that yielded few dividends thanks to the Bit O'Red's steady back five.

With little of note other than Cretaro replacing Alvarez before the break, it looked like the second half was going the same way until Brian Tosh entered the fray.

Coming on for Flynn, Tosh's busy all action style seemed to do the trick as a new urgency came into Rovers play.

The first evidence came on sixty three minutes, when Gorman's cross from the left was met by Cretaro's diving header which forced a good save by Kennedy.
Five minutes later, after switching position with Cretaro, Tosh was brought down by Pender on the left hand side of the box, and Kudozovic stepped up to take the spot kick. However, the Bosnian's effort was sent  to the right but too close to the keeper who made a comfortable save.
Despite Rovers dominance, they were finding The Vikings difficult to break down and could have gone two down on seventy two minutes when a Trevor Vaughan header on edge of the six yard box was well-saved by O'Hara.

But the visitors kept at it and were rewarded two minutes later when Rovers were awarded a direct free kick just outside the box, for a foul on Tosh. Kupono Low came forward to take the responsibility and superbly curled the ball around the wall and inside the post for a deserved equalised.
Rovers could have snatched the lead moments later when a Gallagher  crossed to that man Tosh again, but his free header went just over.

With the game finishing level, the vocal and strong away support went home happy with their side on top of the league and a home clash against Dundalk in The Showgrounds to look forward to on Saturday week.

Teams : Rovers                                                           Dublin City
1  John O'Hara                                                          1  Brendan Kennedy
2  Philip Gallagher                                                     2  Derek Pender
 3   Kupono Low                                                        3   Brian Kelly
4  Michael McNamara                                                 4  Robbie Hedderman
5  Liam Burns                                                           5  Ben Whelehan
6  Conor O'Grady                                                      6  Paul Shiels
7  Alan Flynn                                                            7  Ray Scully
8  Fahrudin Kudozovic                                               8  Alan Mulcahy
9  Carlos Alvarez                                                      9  Trevor Vaughan
10  Sean Flannery                                                    10  Philip Gorman
11  Gareth Gorman                                                   11  Alan Kelly
SUBS                                                                       SUBS 
12 Brian Tosh (7) 56 min                                          12 Dean Brennan
13 -                                                                       13 Robbie Collins (9) 76 min
14 Gerry Carr (11) 71 min                                         14 David McGuill (8) 76 min
15 Ryan O'Donnell                                                   15 Michael Holt (10) 56 min
16 Raffael Cretaro (9) 40 min                                    16 Clifford Henry
17 Alvin Rouse