A goal a piece from Sligo Rovers and Cliftonville saw the sides play out a draw at the Showgrounds.

Substitute Niall Watson gave the Bit O’Red the lead on his first appearance for the club.

The Belfast side equalised through Conor McMenanmin.

Rovers: McNicholas; Dunleavy, Leverock, Mahon, Banks; Twardek, Cawley, Warde, Donelon; Parkes, Coughlan.

Subs used: Fordyce, Watson, Morley.

Sligo Rovers will take on Cliftonville in a mid-season friendly on Thursday night in The Showgrounds.

The game will be used to keep the squad ticking over and as a means of home gate income given we will not have a league match in The Showgrounds until Saturday 14 September, pending the rescheduling of the Dundalk game which will be late August at the earliest.

Tickets for the game will cost €10 for adults and €5 for children under-12. We ask you to support this fixture if possible due to the long gap between home fixtures.

As stated last night, the decision to postpone this Saturday’s game with Dundalk was not made by us and we did repeatedly ask for it to be played but unfortunately this could not be met.

Kick-off on Thursday is 7:45pm.

Sligo Rovers’ game with Dundalk, scheduled for this coming Saturday, August 3rd has been postponed.

This is due to the Lilywhites’ involvement in Europe.

The game will be rescheduled at a further date.

Sligo Rovers stretched their unbeaten run at home to ten as they drew with Bohemians at the Showgrounds.

The last side to beat the Bit O’Red in Sligo, Bohs took the lead courtesy of a Danny Mandriou spot-kick on 37 minutes.

But Rovers pegged the Gypsies back before the break through David Cawley’s third goal of the season.

Both camps had goal-scoring opportunities during an entertaining opening.

Looking to stretch that unbeaten record on their own patch, it was Rovers who were presented with the game’s first chance.

Lewis Banks nodding the ball into the path of Daryl Fordyce, whose effort from close range lacked the required power as James Talbot easily claimed.

Bohs debutant Andrew Wright had his drive at goal blocked down by a series of Sligo legs from a disguised indirect free-kick nine yards from goal.

This after Ed McGinty handled a back pass from Kyle Callan-McFadden.

The Dubliners then had to rely on their skipper Derek Pender to bravely block down Romeo Parkes’ shot after Ronan Coughlan’s through ball.

Michael Barker’s header from a Luke Wade-Slater corner then sailed narrowly over Ed McGinty’s crossbar shortly before the half-hour.

Eyeing a second win in Sligo this season, Bohs had their lead eight minutes from the break.

Danny Kane tripped Wade-Slater inside the area. Mandriou slotting home from 12 yards, sending McGinty the wrong way in the process.

Liam Buckley’s charges were to have their leveller before the interval however.

Cawley turning Kris Twardek’s driven cross from the right beyond Talbot.

Mandriou’s left-footer from the edge of the box then skimmed off the top of the Rovers crossbar on the hour. The visitors looking the more dangerous on the ball. 

McGinty had to watch Keith Buckley’s shot all the way on 72 after Cawley conceded possession inside his own half.

There were half chances for either side late on, but a winner was to prove elusive.

Sligo Rovers: Ed McGinty; Lewis Banks, John Mahon, Dante Leverock, Danny Kane; Kyle Callan-McFadden; Daryl Fordyce, David Cawley; Kris Twardek, Romeo Parkes; Ronan Coughlan.

Bohemians: James Talbot; Derek Pender, Michael Barker, James Finnerty, Darragh Leahy; Luke Wade-Slater, Keith Buckley, Conor Levingston, Kevin Devaney (Danny Grant 68); Danny Mandriou; Andre Wright.

Referee: Graham Kelly.

Attendance: 2,011

Sligo Rovers take on Bohemians in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division on Saturday night in The Showgrounds.

Rovers were beaten 3-0 last week against Derry City and are looking to respond, with the last home game 0-0 with Waterford.

Ronan Murray (calf) and Johnny Dunleavy (knee) are doubtful and will be checked pre-game.

Niall Morahan returns from international duty and needs to be assessed. Niall Watson has received clearance. 

Liam Buckley said:

“Derry played quite well last week. Our formation didn’t work and we didn’t perform over 90 minutes. We’d be disappointed, it is what it is, we get on with it. We have to make sure we apply ourselves in every game left, we go into this game with a new mindset and looking to find a winning performance. 

“We could go both ways in the table, up or down, so there’s an incentive of course. We didn’t perform well enough last week but we’ve shown previously we can get to a much better level. There’s a lot left for us in the season, we’ve got the Cup and our league position is up in the air so I expect that the group to be thinking about our future and their future. 

“We have to have a regular standard of performance and for much of the season consistency has been a problem. In saying that our injury profile has been terrible and we’ve been making a lot of changes because of it. 

“Every game we want to try to win and I want everyone thinking like that because if we don’t think like that we won’t achieve what we want here.

“We’ve gone to Bohs and won and they did it here and I don’t think there is much between any side outside of the top two. We want to go out and win the game with a much better performance.”

After the success of our two Last Man Standing competitions to date, we are delighted to announce we will be running a new competition starting on week one of the English Premier League Season beginning with the tie between Liverpool and Norwich on August 9^th.

The competition created a real buzz between friends, families, work colleagues and team-mates and we hope this will be no different.

The entry fee remains at €10 per entry, with supporters allowed to enter as many times as they wish. We are hoping this will be our biggest competition to date, with tickets already being issued to eager participants.

For those who are not familiar with Last Man Standing, each competitor will pick a team from that weekend’s Premier League fixtures. If your team wins their game, you go through to the next round. If they lose or draw however, you’re out of the competition.

Tickets can be purchased from any committee member and are also available to buy in The Showgrounds office. (Monday-Friday between 10am&2pm). If you’re interested in selling tickets on behalf of the club you can email administrator@sligorovers.com

Alternatively, you can enter the highly anticipated competition
https://srfcdirect.com/last-man-standing/  

Each entry costs €10 or €10.50 online.

All entrants to the competition will be contacted with deadlines and information closer to the kick-off times each week.

Competition Rules:

1. Pay your entry fee before Week 1 — no need to pay again.
2. There is a single prize of €1,000 which will be paid to the competition winner.
3. Each week, simply pick a team playing a Premier League match that week – if your team wins, you go through, lose or draw and you’re out.
4. You can only pick a team to win once in a competition, so you need to be tactical about who you pick and when.
5. All selections must be in no later than 24 hours before the first game of the game-week. You can change your selection up to this deadline, a participant’s last pick will be considered their final selection. Selections will be available by text or email ONLY. It is the participants’ responsibility to ensure that the entry is submitted.
6. If your team’s game is postponed after your selection you are automatically put through to the next round.
7. If you forget to pick a team, you will be assigned one automatically. The selection will be the first available team in alphabetical order.
8. An individual may enter more than one team. Each entry will be treated individually and will require a unique valid selection for each game week.
9. Last Man continues until only one person remains and wins the pot. If more than one remain everyone goes through to the next round. If all remaining players lose in the last round, they all go through to the next round.

We are delighted to bring you our new online club store, www.srfcdirect.com, which is now live.

At Sligo Rovers, we are always looking for ways to improve and we think our brand new store is just another step in the right direction. The new, easy to use store has all our Joma Sport merchandise as well as an improved system for booking summer camps, club lotto, 500 club membership and more.

To access the site, simply click ‘shop’ on the club website and you’ll be directed.

With separate departments for match kit, training gear, club accessories, camps and fundraising initiatives, the site has a fresh new look and our best to date.

We will be adding brand new ranges of training gear and accessories in the coming months and all will be available on srfcdirect.com

To launch the new store, we are giving away a free Sligo Rovers training top to one lucky shopper.

Anyone who buys a product online between now and kick off on Saturday night against Bohemian FC will be entered into the draw.

Please feel free to browse our new store and make a purchase today.

Happy shopping Bit O’ Red fans.

Sligo Rovers, in conjunction with Cosgroves Centra Maugheraboy, are delighted to launch the bring a food can campaign at the Bohemians match night this Saturday night in the Showgrounds.

All supporters are asked to bring a food can which will be distributed by St Vincent de Paul to those in need in Sligo and surrounding area in the form of food hampers.

Cans can be donated outside the stadium. Kick-off is 8pm.

Further details to follow.

Sligo Rovers have completed the signing of Accrington Stanley midfielder Niall Watson on loan until the end of the League of Ireland season, subject to international clearance.

The 19-year-old makes the temporary switch to the Bit O’ Red having featured against us in a friendly for his parent club in The Showgrounds.

He made his debut for Stanley against Exeter 18 months ago and signed his first professional deal last year.

Watson has been part of their pre-season preparations this year and has featured throughout their friendly games.

Liam Buckley said: “It’s important to firm up the squad from our end. Liam Kerrigan is moving on so we have to be mindful of that and replace him.

“Niall came on in the friendly game we had earlier in the month. He’s a young player looking to make an impact.

“He is more likely to get game time here than in Accrington at this point and it suits us to take him in for the next few months. I spoke with John Coleman and it’s a good move for all parties.

“He has been involved with Accrington’s first-team and at a couple of non-league clubs.

“He can play in an attacking role on the left or right, so we’ll give him a chance in training to impress and force a way into the side.

“In terms of other signings, the market is not favourable at this time of year in Ireland but we remain in the hunt.

“We’re exploring things but it has to be a player that is really going to improve us. I won’t sign someone if it isn’t right for us. There’s less than two weeks left we’ll see how things go.”

Niall Watson said: “When I was in Sligo for the friendly I could see what a good club it is so when the gaffer (John Coleman) mentioned their interest I was delighted.

“He told me more about them too so now I’m really excited. I had three loan spells last year and I’m ready to keep playing. There’s still a lot of games to be played in the season in Ireland.

“It’s a great experience for me to move over and become part of a club like Sligo Rovers, I’m really up for it. I can play anywhere across a front three, I probably prefer the left side.

“Whatever the gaffer says I’ll be up for it. I’m looking forward to getting involved straight away and meet everyone on Tuesday.”