Dublin City	0		Sligo Rovers	0
Date	Fri 7 Apr, 2006: 7.45 pm		Venue	Dalymount Park
Attendance	N/a		Sponsor	N/A

The advocates of summer soccer couldn’t quite have envisaged this scenario.....bad weather, little entertainment and a poor game. Nevertheless, Sligo Rovers will be reasonably satisfied to have come away with a share of the points after a typically dogged encounter with Dublin City at Dalymount Park on Friday night last.

By Michael Moran, Courtesy, The Sligo Weekender


Rovers paucity in front of goal resurfaced once again, Paul McTiernan missing their best opportunity to secure a victory when he headed wide in the 67th minute following a cross from substitute Matthew Judge.

Judge’s introduction on the hour gave Rovers much needed impetus in attack and they certainly looked the sharper outfit in the latter stages, without pressing home their advantage on the scoreboard.

While Sean Connor’s side were defensively solid again and kept their second consecutive clean sheet on the road, the lack of goals remains an obvious concern.

Injury

A hamstring injury to Darren Mansaram meant that McTiernan-also returning after injury-was partnered by Sean Flannery up front.

Both worked hard, but it was not until Flannery was replaced by Judge that Rovers suggested they might find a breakthrough.

At the back, the central pairing of Michael McNamara and Liam Burns were excellent all through, with Gavin Peers and Keith Foy also working diligently in their respective full-back berths.

If Rovers struggled in attack, the physical demands of the meeting between the two newly promoted sides were patently evident in midfield, where Adam Hughes, Conor O’Grady, Gary Curran and Fahrudin Kudozovic were forced to dig deep at times against the experienced Dublin City quartet of Derek Pender, Paul Shiels, Gavin McDonnell and Mick O’Donnell.

In the first-half, clear cut chances remained at a premium, Dermot Kelly’s side just edging the possession stakes.

Threatened

On two minutes, full-back Damien Brennan advanced to shoot over John O’Hara’s crossbar from inside the area and City continued to get the ball forward as early as possible in the opening stages.

Rovers threatened in the 20th minute when McNamara found Kudozovic and he in turn set up Paul McTiernan, who twice tried to get in a shot on goal, but the Vikings defence cleared.

A minute later, David Freeman connected with a Keith Doyle free-kick from the left to head wide, before Kudozovic failed to meet a Hughes cross from the right and the ball drifted behind.

On the half hour, David McGill’s delivery into the box saw both Mick O’Donnell and Dave Freeman miscue and on 31 minutes, John O’Hara opted to push Damien Brennan’s dipping cross behind for a corner.

Dublin City were now enjoying the best of the exchanges and Keith Doyle’s 33rd minute effort deflected off one of his own players to go over the endline.

Good move

Curran, Hughes and Gavin Peers were involved in a good move which saw the Rovers full-back get a pass into McTiernan in the area, but the striker couldn’t keep his shot down and it sailed harmlessly over.

Rovers had what seemed like legitimate claims for a penalty turned down four minutes from the break, City ‘keeper, Gary Rogers, appearing to pull down McTiernan in the area, referee Damien Hancock ruling that it was McTiernan who had fouled initially.

The second-half started with a torrential downpour of rail and hail and the strong wind made playing conditions very difficult, though both teams showed plenty of commitment.

The point was underlined in the 48th minute when Gavin Peers slipped following Dave Freeman’s free-kick, allowing Mick O’Donnell in, but he shot into the side netting.

With the ball now more in the air than on the deck, both sides continued to struggle to find an opening.

McGill failed to meet a Mick O’Donnell cross in the 57th minute and O’Donnell then fired across the face of goal a minute later.

Action

Judge signalled his arrival by forcing a corner in the 66th minute after good play on the right and the former Spurs and Luton Town frontman was in the thick of the action again within sixty seconds, collecting a throw-in from Peers to get to the endline and cross for McTiernan to head wide at the near post when he should perhaps have found the target.

Adam Hughes then lined up a left foot drive from Keith Foy that went wide of Rogers’ post and on 83 minutes, Judge and Peers combined to find McTiernan, but instead of opting to shoot he tried to find Kudozovic and the chance was lost.

Rogers held a deflected shot from Hughes four minutes from the end, with City’s reply coming via a Mick O’Donnell volley which went over the bar in added time.

Teams
Dublin City: Rogers, Brennan, Doyle, Kelly, Malcolm, Shiels, McDonnell, O’Donnell, Pender, McGill, Freeman. Sub-Collins for McGill (63 mins).

Sligo Rovers: O’Hara, Peers, McNamara, Burns, Foy, Hughes, O’Grady, Curran, Kudozovic, Flannery, McTiernan. Subs-Judge for Flannery (60 mins), McKenzie for Foy (81 mins).

Referee: Damien Hancock (Dublin).