Sligo Rovers moved level at the top of the Premier Division as they smashed their way past Bohemians at the Showgrounds.

A Johnny Kenny hat-trick and Ryan De Vries’ maiden goal of the season, saw the Bit O’Red go level with fellow leaders Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic.

Rovers produced what was arguably their most impressive half of football this season.

Both striker Kenny and leading scorer Jordan Gibson fired speculative efforts wide of James Talbot’s goalmouth early on.

And both players were involved in Sligo’s opener on 13 minutes.

Gibson’s initial free-kick came back off the Bohs wall after wide man Mark Byrne was fouled at the edge of the visitor’s penalty area. The ball eventually came back to Gibson whose next effort took a touch off a defender before Talbot could only push the ball into the path of the waiting Kenny who fired home for his third goal of the year.

The alert Kenny was involved again soon after but couldn’t control his shot from out wide following a well weighted through ball from Niall Morahan.

A sluggish looking Bohs did have chances to register a goal in the first half. Ross Tierney failed to get the required power behind his side footed effort which was blocked by the foot of Rovers goalkeeper Ed McGinty.

Rory Feely’s looping header almost sneaked past McGinty on 27, while Tierney, allowed ghost into the Sligo area unwatched, smashed a great opportunity wide of the target moments after the hosts had their second.

Lewis Banks’ crossed and Kenny converted off Rob Cornwall.

The league’s leading scorer Georgie Kelly had the ball in the Sligo net early in the second half, only to be adjudged offside by the referee’s assistant on the Jinks’ Avenue side of the ground. While the same man was denied by McGinty who pounced on Kelly’s header from a bending Ciaran Kelly assist from deep.

But Sligo kept their foot on the pedal and had their third on 52.

De Vries’ hard work rewarded as he rescued what looked like a poor pass from Gibson, before calmly negotiating his way through the Bohs defence and finishing past Talbot for his first goal of the year.

The hungry Kenny and De Vries combined before the hour as the New Zealander sent the Riverstown teen through on goal. Kenny did well to shrug off the attention of the last defender but was left disappointed, as his drive bounced back off the post.

McGinty was called upon 15 minutes from time. The Glasgow native pulled off a terrific reaction save as Kelly’s header took a sudden change of direction after it came back off Banks’ knee.

A rampant Rovers had their fourth on 80 minutes. Gibson’s deft touch saw him spin his defender before he fed the now buzzing Kenny who coolly slotted past Talbot for his brace.

Sligo Rovers: Ed McGinty; Lewis Banks, John Mahon, Shane Blaney, Regan Donelon (Colm Horgan 76); Greg Bolger (David Cawley 78), Niall Morahan; Ryan De Vries, Jordan Gibson, Mark Byrne; Johnny Kenny.

Bohemians: James Talbot; Rory Feely (James Finnerty 61), Rob Cornwall (Andy Lyons HT), Ciaran Kelly, Tyreke Wilson (Anto Breslin HT); Dawson Devoy, Keith Buckley (Conor Levingston 69); Ali Coote, Ross Tierney, Liam Burt (Keith Ward 61); Georgie Kelly.

Referee: Damien MacGraith.

The Gallagher Family, Sligo are our new Under 14 team main sponsor for the 2021 season.

The Gallaghers have been big Bit O’ Red Supporters over the years and have always helped the club out through match, match ball and player sponsorships as well as purchasing season tickets each year.

In a fantastic gesture of goodwill, the family have requested that our 2021 Charity Partner, Alzheimers Society of Ireland and Aughamore Day Centre, Sligo appears on the front of the Under 14 team shirts as well as the sleeves of our Ladies teams. The logo will appear for the first time this weekend as these teams begin their respective seasons.

Paul Gallagher, based in Singapore, still keeps a keen eye on all things Sligo Rovers.

‘’I have always kept a close on the club since moving away X years ago. I have always kept up to date with the latest news and I think it is important for the local community to keep getting behind the club and for the club to keep developing its academy. The Alzheimers Society is an important charity and The Aughamore Day Centre is vital for Sligo and I wanted to put their logo on the jerseys to give them the awareness they deserve.’’

The Alzheimers Society became the club’s charity partner in March and continue to engage with the club on a regular basis. They will team up with the club in the coming months on various projects to help raise awareness of their services.

Clair Culkin of Aughamore Day Centre:

‘’We are delighted to hear that The Gallagher Family are offering our charity the chance to have our logo on the Rovers’ Academy team shirts. It’s a very kind gesture and it just shows again the support we receive from people in the area and how important our services are and the positive impact it has on those effected. We sincerely thank The Gallagher’s and wish the club the best of luck in the coming season.

Our Under 14 side face Finn Harps this afternoon in Donegal while our Under 17 Ladies team play Donegal at Ballisodare United FC.

Tomorrow, our Under 19 ladies team face Bohemian FC at home to wrap up our first weekend of competitive action in 2021.

Thanks to The Gallagher Family for their continued support of the club.

Sligo Rovers host Bohemian on Saturday night in The Showgrounds in the match to signal the halfway stage of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.

The match is live on LOI TV with commentary from Darragh Cox and Joseph Ndo. Click here to buy.

The Bit O’ Red have a five-point lead on the Gypsies going into the game, but the visitors bring a record of four wins in their last five.

Rovers were unfortunate not to win in Derry last Monday, with a deflected goal giving the Candystripes a point.

The sides sit in third and fourth place in the table in what should be an intriguing game.

Rovers won 3-1 earlier this season in Dalymount Park.

In team news, Robbie McCourt will not feature for a few weeks due to a broken wrist. David Cawley is now fully recovered and came off the bench in the last two games.

Garry Buckley will have a late fitness test on a muscle injury.

Liam Buckley said: “We were relatively happy with the performance in Derry. After two poor games, it was important to be better and we felt we were that on the night.

“Conceding a goal in the manner we did was quite unlucky. You need a little bit of luck in games and that didn’t go our way.

“While we did improve, we are looking for more and we will need more to get back to winning games.  

“Bohs are a good footballing side, they’re on a very good run and it’s always a difficult task against them.”

Buckley has confirmed Robbie McCourt will miss a period following the injury sustained last week.

“It’s unfortunate for Robbie. It will take some time and he will recover over the next few weeks.

“Regan Donelon came into the side on Monday. Regan has been a first-team starting player for a number of years at the club, it’s great for us to be able to call on someone like him.

“At the start of the year the pre-season circumstances gave Robbie the chance which he took and Regan had to bide his time as a result. 

“David Cawley is now fully fit and Garry is getting closer and we’ll see how he is for Saturday.”  

This weekend sees the start of our Academy season with all six teams in action between Friday and Sunday.

Each squad have been training hard over the last number of weeks and with pre-season friendlies now complete, competitive action can begin.

The weekend sees Our Under 14 and Under 19 boys teams away from home with all other teams having home fixtures, beginning on Friday night with The Under 15 team hosting Finn Harps.

Head of Academy Conor O’ Grady:

‘’ All the players are looking forward to getting their seasons started this weekend. They have put in a lot of hard work over the last few weeks and have been very patient since the end of last season. It’s great to see some competitive football back now. All our coaches and backroom staff have been doing trojan work to get the players ready it so it will be nice for them as well.

We still have to remind everyone of the restrictions in place and the various things we need to do to keep everyone safe, which we will endeavour to continue to do throughout the season’’.

There are a number of new sponsors on board at academy level this season to add to those who sponsored us in 2020.

Full list of sponsors:

• Joma Sport
• IT Sligo/Knocknarea Arena
• Alzheimers Society of Ireland, Sligo (The Gallagher Family)
• O’ Connor Cabins
• Ivor Parke Paintors & Decorators
• Ejmenswear.com
• Verus Metrology
• Overstock
• Oh Hello Clothing
• Sweet Beat Café

Fixtures:

Boys:

Under 14 Vs Finn Harps (Saturday 2pm, Killygordon, Donegal)

Under 15 Vs Finn Harps (Friday 7.30pm, Sean Fallon Centre)

Under 17 Vs Dundalk (Saturday 1pm, Sean Fallon Centre)

Under 19 V Derry City (Sunday 3pm, Maginn Park, Buncrana)

Ladies:

Under 17 Vs Donegal (Saturday 4.15pm, Ballisodare United FC)

Under 19 Vs Bohemian FC (Sunday 4pm, Sean Fallon Centre)

View a selection of images from last night’s 1-1 draw with Derry City in the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium. Photos by James Fallon.

Sligo Rovers were held to a 1-1 draw by Derry City at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium.

After trailing to Jordan Gibson’s 55th minute goal, the Candystripes showed that never-say-die attitude again when they scored another late goal, this time Ronan Boyce’s deflected effort earning them a point.

City went close to taking the lead on 33 minutes as full-back Danny Lafferty did well down the left before his low centre found David Parkhouse, but the big striker fired over from just around the penalty spot. Soon after a poor clearance by Jack Malone only found Greg Bolger and his clever pass into the edge of the box to Johnny Kenny meant the young striker had time to get a super drive on goal, but Derry keeper Nathan Gartside did well to turn the effort around the post.

The home side went close to breaking the deadlock on 54 minutes as Will Patching cut in from the left before seeing his curling 20 yard strike sail just past the right hand post.

Rovers took the lead a minute later as Jordan Gibson broke in behind the Derry defence, to latch onto Mark Byrne’s clever flick, before calmly slotting the ball past Gartside.

Just after the hour mark McGinty had to make a top save when diving full stretch to his left the Rovers keeper did well to keep out Jack Malone’s curling strike. Another teasing pass by Greg Bolger on 76 minutes released Kenny and with Gartside caught in no man’s land, the young striker’s attempted lob into the unguarded net, sailed just wide.

Derry levelled things in somewhat fortunate circumstances on 85 minutes as Ronan Boyce’s low 20 yard drive took a big deflection off Shane Blaney before sneaking past McGinty.

Soon after Patching was inches away from giving the home side lead as his dipping pile driver had to be tipped over by McGinty.

Derry City: Nathan Gartside, Ronan Boyce, Eoin Toal (Danny Lupano 45), Cameron McJannet, Daniel Lafferty; Ciaron Harkin, Jack Malone, Will Patching; Will Fitzgerald, David Parkhouse (Marc Walsh 65 – Patrick Ferry 78), James Akintunde.

Sligo Rovers: Ed McGinty, Lewis Banks, Greg Bolger, Jordan Gibson, Niall Morahan, Ryan De Vries (Walter Figueira 77), Mark Byrne (Romeo Parkes 77), Shane Blaney, Regan Donelon, John Mahon, Johnny Kenny (David Cawley 77).

Referee: Derek Tomney (Dublin).

Sligo Rovers face St Patrick’s Athletic on Friday night at Richmond Park in the SSE Airtricity League.

Rovers, in second place, are three points ahead of the Saints going into the game. The match will be on LOITV.

The teams met earlier this season when a stoppage time goal by Ian Bermingham cancelled out Jordan Gibson’s penalty.

Rovers have six wins and a draw from seven away games so far. The Bit O’ Red were beaten 2-1 by Drogheda United last week in The Showgrounds in what was a second defeat of the season.

In team news, Garry Buckley will have a late fitness test on a muscle injury.

David Cawley is available again. Regan Donelon is also fit having missed the game last week.

Darren Collins has returned to training but this game comes too soon for him. Romeo Parkes is back from suspension.

Liam Buckley said: “We were disappointed last week in losing to Drogheda. We know we won’t win every game, but we do want to play better.

“We want to respond to that and bounce back. Once the game is over, all you can do is put the focus on the response and we have an opportunity here.

“It is a difficult one and we want to compete well. Pat’s will have a similar approach and it will be keenly-contested certainly. They’ve had a good season and there’s just three points between the teams

“We have done well away from home and we’d like to continue that. We’ll check on Garry Buckley, while we know we definitely have Dave Cawley and Regan Donelon back.

“Darren will come into the equation soon and Romeo has served his one game.”

The 500 club draw for April and May took place recently, with the list of all winners available below.

The 500 club continues to be one of the most important fundraisers for the club since its establishment in 2003.

Our thanks to everyone who supports the 500 club draw every month.

To pay the annual fee of €240, or to join the 500 club by paying €20 per month, click here.

April Winners:

• €500 Michael Leyden, Pearse Rd Sligo.
• €100 Gerry Foley, Glencar Sligo.
• €100 Hugh Sheridan, Strandhill Rd Sligo.
• €100 Gannon Mc Namara, Cedar Drive Sligo.
• €100 Eilish Downes, Treacy Ave Sligo.
• €100 Sean Dwyer, Cartron Sligo.
• €50 Michael Gallagher, Crossmolina Mayo.
• €50 Ken Farrell, Ballisodare Sligo.
• €50 Leon Gordon, Strandhill Rd, Sligo.
• €50 Enda Molloy, Dublin 16.

May Winners:

• €500 Marie Casserly, Grange Sligo.
• €100 Adelene Kerr, Ballisodare Sligo.
• €100 Arthur O’Dea, Dublin 7.
• €100 Maurice Mulligan, Dublin 6.
• €100 Mark Mulholland, Markievicz Rd Sligo.
• €100 Bertie Davey, Carraroe Sligo.
• €50 Gerry Murray, Maugheraboy Sligo.
• €50 Irene Tighe, Ballina Mayo.
• €50 Kevin Fitzsimons, Cairns Hill Sligo.
• €50 Hugh Browne, Ballintogher Sligo.

Sligo Rovers have been drawn with FH of Iceland in the first round of Europa Conference League qualifying.

The Bit O’ Red were in a European draw for the first time in seven year as they were paired with Hafnarfjarðar .

The tie will be played on 8 and 15 July. Rovers will play in Hafnarfjarðar for the first leg.

Details have yet to be confirmed by the clubs. Fans are not permitted to travel to the game in Iceland.

FH are currently seventh in the Icelandic league. They played Dundalk in Champions League qualifying in 2016-2017 and were beaten on the away goals rule.