Preview: Rovers vs Drogheda

Sligo Rovers vs Drogheda United

SSE Airtricity League

Saturday May 16th, 7:45pm

The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers face Drogheda United in The Showgrounds.

A win would put the Bit o'Red ahead of their opponents and give a first home win of the league season.

Owen Heary's team go into the game on the back of a narrow defeat in a fantastic game with Cork City last weekend.

Drogheda have already played twice this week with Cork City also getting the three points against them on Monday.

Team news

Rovers: Jake Dykes joins Jeff Henderson in missing the game with an injury, he has a hamstring issue.

But there is better news as Gavin Peers returns from six weeks on the sidelines and Morten Nielsen is over the groin injury that ruled him out of the Cork game.

Limerick: Shane Dunne, Alan Byrne and Darly Kavanagh are all out suspended. There is a doubt over Lloyd Buckley with the flu with Neil Yadolahi and Stephen Maher definitely out.

Drogheda will be without the suspended trio of Shane Dunne, Alan Byrne and Daryl Kavanagh while Lloyd Buckley is doubtful with the flu. Neil Yadolahi and Stephen Maher remain sidelined. - See more at: http://www.droghedaunited.ie/news/post.php?s=2015-05-15-match-preview-sl...

Interviews

Owen Heary: “Looking back at the game against Cork City we played very well. We kept the ball well and we passed it well. We created plenty of chances in the game which was good and scored two goals against one of the best and most organised defences in the league. And we had some good chances to score more. But the negative is that we come away from the game with nothing having played well.

"They are a young team a bit like us so with them missing some experienced players like Alan Byrne and Daryl Kavanagh hopefully that’s something we can take advantage of. I think we are going into this game with a good chance of getting the three points.”

Jake Dykes: “We just need to get going now. Drogheda is a massive game on Saturday. I’d just encourage supporters to come, they have a massive impact with the future of this club in terms of budgets and stuff like that. It would be great for us if we could get as much people out as possible Saturday. It’s a big game, we need everyone behind us and hopefully we can get the three points.”

Opposition

Drogheda United are currently ninth in the league table, one place and three points ahead of Rovers with one extra game played.

Their season got off to a great start under new manager Johnny McDonnell with an away win on the opening night of the season followed by beating Rovers 3-2 at home.

After that they picked up just two points from the next nine games with draws against Limerick and St. Pat's. The run ended by getting another win over Bray 4-2 last weekend.

Leading scorer has been former Rovers man Daryl Kavanagh with three goals.

Head-to-head

Last win

27/06/14 Drogheda United 1 Sligo Rovers 2

John Coleman’s reign at the Rovers helm got off to the perfect start as he witnessed Sligo edge out ten-man Drogheda United with a 2-1 win in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.

First-half goals from Danny North and Kieran Djilali proved crucial for Sligo.

Drogheda, who had Paul Andrews sent off before half-time, pulled one back just before the break through a Gavin Brennan penalty, but ultimately could not catch Sligo.

Rovers travelled to Drogheda under new management looking to arrest a run of three league games without a win.

The hosts were hoping to get their first points in eight league outings and Kierans welcomed Michael Schlingermann and Stephen Maher back after long-term injuries.

The writing was on the wall early on for Drogheda when Raffaele Cretaro created some space on the left wing and whipped in a cross which North headed off the crossbar.

The Bit O’Red replicated the move three minutes later and North made no mistake this time, guiding his header just inside the near post past the diving Schlingermann.

They doubled their lead ten minutes later when a sweeping move from the back allowed Djilali to open the Drogheda defence with a crossfield pass to North. North in turn laid the return pass on a plate for Djilali, who had the simple task of firing home from close range.

Drogheda were handed a lifeline on 39 minutes by way of a spot kick. Gavin Brennan stepped up and hammered the penalty home.

The Boynesiders were reduced to ten men before the break. Paul Andrews collided with Danny North and was shown a straight red.

Sligo should have increased their lead after the restart when Cawley played North through but his shot was right at Schlingermann. John Russell was next to carve open the Drogheda defence with a through ball to Djilali but his finish was tame enough for the Boynesiders keeper to save.

It was all Sligo as Drogheda looked unable to string the required passes together, Cretaro went narrowly wide from an acute angle.

The hosts did rally in the final five minutes, but the Sligo defence held resolute to see out the win.

Drogheda United: Micheal Schlingermann, Shane Grimes, Mick Daly, Paul Andrews, Stephen Maher, Gavin Brennan, Paul Crowley (Sean O’Connor 79), Daire Doyle, Cathal Brady,(Carl Walshe 69) Gavan Holohan, Declan O’Brien

Subs Not Used: David Ryan, Gary O’Neill, Roy Kierans, Ciaran O’Connor, Dale Harding

Sligo Rovers: Gary Rogers, Danny Ledwith, Kalen Spillane, Ross Gaynor; Kieran Djilali, John Russell, Paul O’Conor, David Cawley, Raffaelle Cretaro, Danny North (Aaron Greene 90)

Subs not used: Richard Brush, Sean Maguire, Regan Donelon.

Match officials

Referee: Graham Kelly

Assistant referees: Ken Hennessey & Trevor Conlon

Fourth official: Marc Lynch

Coverage

Commentary: Live radio updates on Ocean FM (oceanfm.ie) from Darragh Cox

Updates: Live updates on our Twitter account @sligorovers

The Bit O' Red Photography

Preview: Rovers vs Drogheda

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