By Conall Collier
Sligo Rovers return to action in the Women’s Premier Division (WPD) with a trip to Eamonn Deacy Park on Saturday to tackle title-chasing Galway Utd at 5pm.
Galway took the points home from the Showgrounds last time on Easter Saturday with what was a hard-earned 3-1 victory.
That was a costly outing for the Bit O’Red, as separate second-half injuries to Katie Melly and Jessica Casey disrupted the team’s fluency.
Rachel McGoldrick scored for the Bit O’Red as Galway added two late goals to seal the 3-1 victory.
Boss Steve Feeney has struggled to get a consistent starting 11 so far, due mainly to a lengthy injury list, and it will be a similar story for Saturday’s trip to Galway.
However, he is hopeful that former Peamount Utd player Louise Masterson will be able to make an overdue debut for the Bit O’red.
Louise was recruited for the start of the season, but a registration issue left her ineligible until now, and she should be a good addition to the side.
Bernie Ferreria and Annie McKinley have also signed up for the Bit O’Red and should be available for the weekend action.
Ferreira has played with a number of clubs, including Crusaders and Linfield, and also featured for Northern Ireland at under-17 and under-19 levels.
Last February she scored against Albania in stage two of the UEFA WU19 Euro 2025 qualifiers as N Ireland won by 5-0.
McKinley arrives from California after playing college football for the last four years and finished her last season with a league championship success.
“Hopefully, the registrations for Louise, Bernie and Annie will be okay for Saturday, and I’ll be able to include them in the squad for the game against Galway,” commented the Bit O’Red boss.
“Apart from the players on the injured list, we will be without Muireann and Lauren Devaney while Alanna Doherty, Eimear Lafferty and Anna McDaniel are on the doubtful list at the moment,” he added.
Looking at the last outing in the WFAI Cup against DLR Waves, Steve was disappointed with the result, although he couldn’t fault the overall effort of the players.
“We could have won the game against DLR Waves a fortnight ago, but we just couldn’t get over the line,” he said.
“We didn’t capitalise on some early chances, but even after going two goals down, we displayed great character to get back into contention.
“I was disappointed with the decision to award a penalty, apparently for a push in the back. I couldn’t see it even after watching it a few times after the game, but that’s the way it goes, and you just have to get on with it.
“Going to Galway on Saturday, one of the strongest teams in the league, will be another big challenge for us.
“However, we know that we can be competitive, that we create chances, and that we can defend well.
“If we can do all that with a little bit more consistency and finish some of the chances that we create, then we will make it difficult for Galway and hopefully take something home from the game,” he concluded.
GALWAY UTD
Currently sitting in fourth place, some nine points adrift of leaders Athlone Town with a back match away to Peamount from a postponement in March, Galway cannot afford any more slip-ups with three defeats already clocked up.
May was a bad month on that front with defeats against Athlone Town, Shelbourne and Treaty Utd, but since then they have beaten Cork and Waterford to get the drive for a WPD title back on track.
Apart from chasing a first WPD title after going close last season, the Galway women are also chasing a third successive All-Island Cup and will face Wexford in the semi-final at the end of July.
They exited the WFAI Cup at the first hurdle, losing to Shelbourne at the end of June, but bounced back to winning ways in the All-Island Cup last weekend with a 3-1 quarter-final victory against Shamrock Rovers.
Ceola Bergin scored twice in the opening half for Phil Trill’s side, and an early second-half own goal sealed the verdict in front of a good-sized crowd of almost 400 at Eamonn Deacy Park.
Galway Utd v Sligo Rovers live on LOITV on Saturday at 5pm.