Second-half strikes from David Parkhouse and Ciaron Harkin sealed Derry City’s win over Sligo Rovers.

The Brandywell men had skipper Barry McNamee to thank for the win, as the talented midfielder drove the home side onto a much improved second half display.

Derry gave a full debut to goalkeeper Nathan Gartside, who had to replace the injury Peter Cherrie, while Eoghan Stokes came in for Conor McDermott, who also missed out completely with a groin problem.

As for Rovers boss Liam Buckley, he made five changes to his side which lost to Shamrock Rovers last time out.

It was Derry who went close on 10 minutes but Eoghan Stokes’ left footed strike, which had Rovers keeper Mitchell Beeney beaten, hit the side netting.

Gartside was called into action a minute later as at full stretch he brilliantly tipped over Liam Kerrigan’s super curling 20 yard effort.

Just after the mid-way point of the half Beeney had to make a smart save, to keep out Junior’s 25 yard shot, after Stokes’ clever flick set-up the City winger.

Early in the second half Junior went close but his tame header from Barry McNamee’s left wing cross, never really troubled Beeney and the Rovers keeper easily gathered.

On 57 minutes Beeney dived low to his left to keep out McNamee’s shot on the turn and Stokes’ follow-up strike came back off the post.

Derry deservedly took the lead two minutes later as that McNamee picked up a the loose ball, before playing in Parkhouse, who took a touch and made no mistake drilling the ball low into Beeney’s bottom left hand corner.

Liam Buckley’s men side missed a golden chance to level things on 76 minutes as substitute John Russell, cut the ball back from the left to find Ronan Coughlan, but the striker side footed wide from close range.

On 85 minutes Russell was inches away from equalising but his 20 yard strike whistled just past Gartside’s right hand post.

Deep into stoppage time and as the visitors were pushing forward for an equaliser they were caught on the break with City substitute Gianni Seraf’s pass finding Harkin, who blasted home from the right hand side of the box.

Sligo Rovers Football Club would like to extend our sincere sympathies to Brian Dorrian and his extended family on the passing of his mother last night.

Brian has been involved at the club for many years, fostering our young underage players at under 19 level while also playing an active coaching role with our first team. Brian also enjoyed a spell as interim first team manager at the end of last season.

Everyone associated with the club will support Brian and his family over the coming days and weeks ahead.

Our thoughts are with the Dorrian family at this sad and difficult time.

Sligo Rovers return to league action on Friday night when they visit Derry City at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium.

After a week off last week due to the postponement of the Waterford fixture, Rovers travel north for the first meeting of the season with the Candystripes. 

In team news, Ed McGinty is out with a finger injury.

David Cawley is doubtful and will undergo a late fitness test. 

Ronan Murray was troubled with a knock last week but has trained in recent days. 

Liam Buckley said: “We were quite disappointed with our performance last time out. 

“I didn’t particularly view the break as a good or bad thing but it did gives us a bit more time to work on certain things and try to get better in areas. We are much better than that display last game and we have to show that. 

“There isn’t much between Derry and ourselves in the table and that big, slick pitch will lend to a good game.

“I have no doubt it’ll be another hard one but one we can do well in. We’ve had a bit of time to work on things and Dante Leverock and Niall Morahan have returned okay from international duty

“We’ve eight games in a month after this with a tight squad. You can be sure everyone will play their part and we have nobody in the squad not capable because they are all good players that will demonstrate as much. 

“They can show that against Derry and it’s a game we’re really keen to get stuck into.”

The International break is now behind us and we can now look forward to Round 5 in our Last Man Standing competition.

There is a full list of fixtures this weekend in the Premiership, with 155 left standing and in the running for the €1,000 top prize.Selections for Round 5 must be submitted to Shane@sligorovers.com or to 086-4554265 by 9pm on Friday night.

All entrants to the competition who have successfully made it to Round 5 are listed below, with their selections each week also listed. We wish everyone left in the competition the very best of luck.

This weeks fixtures:

Fulham vs Man City

Brighton vs Southampton

Burnley vs Wolves

Crystal Palace vs Huddersfield

Leicester vs Bournemouth

Man Utd vs Watford

West Ham vs Everton

Cardiff vs Chelsea

Liverpool vs Tottenham

Arsenal vs Newcastle

Remaining players and their selections so far up to Round 4:

There was good news for Sligo Rovers players at the weekend at underage and senior level.

Niall Morahan made his Under-19 debut for the Republic of Ireland last Saturday as they qualified for the European Championships this July.

Niall could yet feature in Tuesday’s game with Russia which is a dead rubber for Ireland having already qualified.

Meanwhile Dante Leverock captained Bermuda to a 3-1 win over Dominican Republic last night as his country qualified for the Gold Cup.

It was a wonderful achievement by Dante and his team-mates. He will be part of the squad in June in America for the major tournament.

IT’S not often we get the chance to host high-profile clubs such as Leeds United, Derby County or Aberdeen here at the Showgrounds – but that’s exactly what’s happening on the weekend of April 26/28th when we welcome the participating teams in the third annual Sligo Super Cup.

The Sligo Super Cup is an elite under-12 tournament which has generated huge interest in its first two years. Here at Sligo Rovers, we are delighted to be associated with the tournament and to make our facilities available for thee days of action-packed football.

This year, the eight teams involved are Leeds United, Derby County, Aberdeen, Glenavon, Dublin&District Schoolboys League, Mayo League, Donegal League and our own Sligo/Leitrim League.

Working closely with the Sligo/Leitrim Schoolboys/girls leagues in recent years, Sligo Rovers is a strong advocate of the development of youth football and we are delighted to see the tangible results of so many of our current first team squad having graduated through local youth football.

The Sligo Super Cup is an important early step on this ladder, affording local young players the chance to showcase their talent against the very best academy players from across Ireland and the UK.

In all, there will be 16 tournament games staged at the Showgrounds over the weekend of April 26th/28th, kicking off at 3 pm on the Friday and culminating in the final on Sunday morning.

The last two tournaments have highlighted the exceptionally high standard of football at this level, and we would encourage all our supporters to come along to see some of the games and to support our local youngsters. You will undoubtedly be getting an early glance at the stars of the future.

We will announce more details of this exciting youth tournament as the date draws closer.

Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce details of our upcoming Easter Camps, which will take place from Monday April 15^th until Friday April 26^th.  The camp runs from 10.30am until 3pm daily.

Prices remain capped from last year, with the cost of the camp €60 for one child, €100 for two children from the one family and €135 for three children from the one family.

Each child that participates in the 2019 Easter Camps will receive an official Sligo Rovers training top (different from last year), a picture with the Sligo Rovers players, a free ticket to the next Sligo Rovers home league game and a participation certificate.

The ever popular Breakfast Club returns yet again, which opens from 8.30am daily. The Breakfast Club runs until 10.30am (before the actual camp starts) and each child that attends is given a choice of cereal, toast and juice each morning. Members of the first team attend the Breakfast Club with a presentation on healthy eating taking place on one of the mornings. The cost of the Breakfast Club is an additional €25 per person. Places are limited to 25 each week with pre booking strongly advised. Any children that attend the Breakfast Club are walked down from the Breakfast Club to the camp at 10.30am each morning by a camp coach.

To book your child/children on the 2019 Sligo Rovers Easter Camps, you can contact Shane at the club on 071-9171212 or email him at shane@sligorovers.com

Alternatively, you can book your child/children on the 2019 Sligo Rovers Easter Camps online here

Three matches have been altered in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division

Our home game with Dundalk FC has been moved to Friday 12th April.

The home game with Waterford FC has been arranged for Monday 15th April at 7:45pm.

Finally the away match with Cork City on Easter Monday 22nd April in Turner’s Cross will kick off at 5pm.

Sligo Rovers went down to a 3-0 defeat to Shamrock Rovers last Friday in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division

Goals from Dan Carr, Ronan Finn and Jack Byrne secured the win for the home side.

Rovers are back in action on Friday week away to Derry City

Sligo Rovers visit Shamrock Rovers on Friday night in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division.

The Bit O’ Red go into the game on the back of two wins – against Finn Harps and UCD – and a first clean sheet of the season in that game against the Students.

In team news, Regan Donelon, Kyle Callan-McFadden and Dante Leverock have returned to training throughout this week.

Ed McGinty is out with a finger problem.

Liam Buckley said: “It is good to get some of the injured lads back in training at least. We’ll have to make a call on whether they are ready to start. It’s not straight-forward in one or two cases.

“We’d like to improve on these two wins and get our performances better, which is happening in moments and has helped us get those victories. 

“It’ll take time to get it to where we’d like over the course of a game. That’s what we’re working towards.

“The opposition are the team top of the table with aspirations to stay there all year so it’s a challenge. 

“I’ve had some wins in Tallaght previously and it’s a great place to pick up a result if you can do so. 

“It’s certainly what we’re targeting and something we are looking forward to trying to do. We’ll give it a good go.”