Sligo Rovers will face Finn Harps in the second round of the EA Sports Cup.

The match will be played in Finn Park on Monday 1 April at 8pm.

Round four of our Last Man Standing competition marked the end of the competition for 48 of our entrants, leaving just 155 people standing heading into Round five at the end of this month.

With a vastly reduced fixture list this coming weekend and an international break approaching next week, round five of the competition will not take place until Saturday March 30th.

Crystal Palace proved to be the heartbreak for most casualties in Round 4, with Tottenhams defeat to Southampton proving costly also.

All players who have qualified for Round five of the competition have been contacted directly and will be contacted once again for their selections for Round five on Wednesday March 27th.

Sligo Rovers held a bingo event last Sunday in the Knocknarea Arena in IT Sligo.

Almost 1,000 people attended the event which was organised by Vincent Nally, Shane Crossan and many volunteers with the club.

It was an afternoon of great fun with over €10,000 in prize money won by the players. 

The money generated will go towards the project to install new seating in the Treacy Avenue Stand.

If you would like to contribute to their project, email administrator@sligorovers.com.

A cheque for €1,000 will be donated to a Cystic Fibrosis charity in memory of the late Gary Dillon from Calry – a person with great involvement in Sligo sport and more – and who’s legacy lives on to this day as we saw on Sunday. 

Vincent and Shane confirmed that the next bingo event will take place on the first Sunday in December.

The club would like to place on record our thanks to Vincent, Shane, all of the outlets that stocked bingo books, the event team, IT Sligo and all those associated with a great day. 

Liam Buckley was pleased to pick up his first three points in The Showgrounds and feels his team should look up when thinking about the table.

Romeo Parkes scored the game’s only goal as Sligo Rovers squeezed past UCD at the Showgrounds.

The win was manager Liam Buckley’s first home win, as the Bit O’Red saw off an impressive effort from the Students.

The probing Richie O’Farrell brought an early stop out of Sligo goalkeeper Mitchell Beeney. While Rovers skipper Johnny Dunleavy had to block down a second O’Farrell effort moments later.

Buckley’s men took the lead with five minute elapsed.

Liam Kerrigan cutting out a loose ball in the midfield, before slotting the ball into the path of Parkes who coolly placed his effort beyond Conor Kearns.

Collie O’Neill’s charges continued to worry the Sligo back line, with chances for Kevin Coffey and Richie O’Farrell who couldn’t direct his free header inside Beeney’s post.

The ex-Chelsea net minder stood between UCD and a deserved equaliser just short of the half hour.

Beeney bringing a strong hand to Gary O’Neill’s driven shot from the edge of the area.

As fortunate as Rovers may have been to lead at the break, they should have doubled their advantage ten minutes from the interval.

Ronan Murray’s superb ball up the right side allowed Kris Twardek break past Mark Dignam. The Canadian winger’s subsequent searching ball from wide finding Sam Warde, who seemed to get the ball stuck between his feet at the back post with the goal at his mercy.

Parkes was presented with a chance to double his tally courtesy of a through ball from Murray on 57. But Kearns watched the Jamaican international’s tame effort all the way.

Kearns was alive to hold on to substitute David Cawley’s shot from the angle ten minutes later.

While Beeney kept out Coffey at the other end, before centre half John Mahon had to react to take the ball off the toe of Mahdy on the rebound.

A Rovers body then somehow swept the ball off the line from the resulting corner.

UCD threw everything at Sligo in the final stages, but Rovers held out for a second win on the trot.

Sligo Rovers: Mitchell Beeney; Niall Morahan, Johnny Dunleavy, John Mahon, Lewis Banks; Jack Keaney, Sam Warde (David Cawley HT); Kris Twardek (Ronan Coughlan 76), Ronan Murray, Liam Kerrigan; Romeo Parkes.

UCD: Conor Kearns; Dan Tobin, Josh Collins, Liam Scales, Mark Dignam; Kevin Coffey, Richie O’Farrell, Gary O’Neill, Jason McClelland; Timmy Molloy; Yoyo Mahdy (Sean McDonald 80).

Referee: John McLoughlin.

Sligo Rovers host UCD in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division in The Showgrounds on Saturday night. 

Rovers return to Saturday night action for the first time this season on the back of Liam Buckley’s first win as manager away to Finn Harps last week.

Over 5,250 home fans attended our first two games in total, of 5,589, and another good crowd is expected as the Students visit.

In team news, Johnny Dunleavy and Ronan Coughlan return to the squad after groin and hamstring problems. 

Regan Donelon (hamstring) and Ed McGinty (finger) are ruled out.  

Kyle Callan-McFadden has a back problem and is doubtful. He will be tested pre-game. 

Liam Buckley said: “There was a small improvement in our play in Ballybofey and we really had to dig it to get that win, which we did so very well. 

“It’s going to be difficult to pick up results every ground you go to, so it was brilliant to get that first three points.

“We’d like to build on that now and we’ve worked on that because we were back at it straight away after the Harps game.

“The next few weeks are just one game a week so it gives us a chance from that end to prepare properly.

“UCD may be down the bottom right now but you look at their performances, particularly last week, it’s clear they’ll be as good as many of the teams in this league. We know what we’re up against. 

“It’s going to be another hard night. 

“I’ve no doubt there’ll be a big crowd behind us again and we’ll need them fired up like the two previous matches. We’d love to get that win, it’s not going to be easy and we’ll have to be at it from the start.”

We are now entering Round 4 of our last man standing competition, with 203 players still in the running for the cash prize of €1,000.

All players who have qualified for Round 4 have been contacted, with selections to be sent to 086-4554265 or emailed to shane@sligorovers.com no later by 9pm tomorrow night (Friday).

Based on selections so far, Crystal Palace and Leicester City are proving popular among our entrants for Round 4. Should one or both of the above drop points at the weekend, there would be a huge amount exiting the competition at the fourth fence.

Fixtures for Round 4 are as follows and best of luck to all of the remaining players:

Crystal Palace vs Brighton

Cardiff vs West Ham

Huddersfield vs Bournemouth

Leicester vs Fulham

Newcastle vs Everton

Southampton vs Tottenham

Man City vs Watford

Liverpool vs Burnley

Chelsea vs Wolves

Arsenal vs Man Utd

There are just three days to go until our €10,000 bingo which will take place in the Knocknarea Arena IT Sligo this coming Sunday at 3pm.

With €10,000 guaranteed on the day, it marks one of the biggest bingo events to hit the region in quite some time.

Single books are priced at €20 while double books are €25. Doors will open at 1.30pm with tea and coffee also available.

Members of the public are encouraged to buy their books in advance if possible, to avoid potential congestion on the day. Please note limited books will be available at the door on the day.

The following are the 16 outlets in which you can purchase your bingo book:

Tanseys Centra, Gurteen

Lavins Menswear, Ballymote

Collerys, Beltra

The Showgrounds, Sligo

Maugheraboy Post Office

Matt Lyons, Sligo

Cliffoney Post Office

Gillespies, Tubbercurry

McKims, Collooney

McLeans, Ballinfull

McMorrows, Rathcormac

Kellys Barbers, Sligo

Higgins & Keegan Centra, Enniscrone

The Hilltop Culleens, Co.Sligo

Bernies Shop, Easkey

Feeneys Costcutters, Dromore West

For more information on the bingo you can contact Shane at the club on 071-9171212.

This week’s match programme for the game with UCD in The Showgrounds contains a host of features in the 44 pages.

• Interview with supporter Gerard O’Connor
• Liam Buckley – his thoughts on the game
• Leo Gray on the early days of Sligo football
• Conal Collier on why the Buggles were wrong!!
• 20 Questions with Jack Keaney
• Where are they now by Joe Molloy
• Face In The Crowd Photo, if you are picked, you win a prize
• Red Icons – James and Andy Tiernan

Make sure to purchase it on your way into the ground for €4.

Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce details of a sponsorship package with Callan Tansey Solicitors for the 2019 season.

Following on from their sponsorship back in 2018, the award winning law firm were keen to support the club once again describing their sponsorship from last year as “extremely rewarding, satisfying and great value for money”.

Callan Tansey are one of the country’s leading law firms with offices in Sligo, Boyle, Ballina, Galway and Dublin. Based on Wine street in Sligo, the firm offers legal advice and legal services for both businesses and individuals in areas such as medical claims, personal injury, business disputes and much more.

The Connacht law firm of the year for 2016 have shown their support for the Bit O’ Red yet again by exploring many sponsorship avenues with the club for 2019. This year will witness the law firm sponsoring Kyle Mc Fadden for the season, a continuation of their sign at the showgrounds, sponsorship of Sligo Rovers vs. Cork City in June and two Associate Sponsorship booklets.

Sligo Rovers would like to thank everyone at Callan Tansey Solicitors for their continued support of the club and in particular Caroline Mc Laughlin, who has worked with the club in recent weeks to develop the sponsorship package for 2019. We wish Callan Tansey Solicitors continued success and we look forward to developing our partnership with the firm going forward.