Bohemians found a way past Sligo Rovers at the Showgrounds on Friday night.

Andre Wright’s strike ten minutes from time was enough to seal the win for an industrious Bohs outfit who inflicted upon the Bit O’Red, their first league defeat in six games.

Seeking to tighten that gap between themselves and the league leaders, it was the visitors who dictated much of the play in the opening half and who fashioned the early chances.

Rovers goalkeeper Ed McGinty was called into action five minutes in when Lewis Banks mis-controlled his attempted clearance at the edge of the Sligo area. Possession fell to ex-Sligo winger Kris Twardek who picked out the waiting Dawson Devoy, who was in turn denied by the sprawling Scot.

Devoy was offered another chance to open the scoring just 60 seconds later. But the ex-Home Farm youth could only drive wide from all of 15 yards.

Rovers then had to rely on acrobatics from Kyle McFadden whose overhead kick stopped the ball from going over the line after Twardek’s cross was poked towards goal by a Bohs player.

The home side, looking to continue their impressive post lock-down form, conjured up their first opportunity on 17 minutes. Will Seymore might have done better when he headed David Cawley’s corner past James Talbot’s post.

The Phibsboro men were back amongst the chances before the break. Danny Grant’s effort was deflected into the path of Wright, but the striker couldn’t apply the finishing touch with the goal at his mercy.

While McFadden was involved in front of his own posts again on 37 when he blocked down Grant’s well struck volley.

Both sides began the second period with headed chances. Ronan Coughlan first for Sligo, while Bohs’ Wright was next to miss the mark after he met Anto Breslin’s hanging ball from the left.

Good work from both Seymore and Junior provided Coughlan with Sligo’s next opening with just over an hour elapsed.

The sparse Showgrounds crowd took to their feet in anticipation as Coughlan found himself one-on-one with Talbot. But Coughlan’s poor finishing was his downfall as he fired wide with just the Bohs net-minder to beat.

McGinty was called on to get both hands behind Wright’s opportunistic shot on the turn with a quarter of an hour to go as Sligo continued to frustrate their opponents.

The Dubliners finally broke the deadlock on 80 when Wright was allowed ample space to connect with Devoy’s cross. The 23-year-old marksman tucking the ball past McGinty for his fourth goal of the campaign.

There was a late chance for Sligo, but the mis-firing Coughlan blazed over Seymore’s knockdown from a Cawley corner.

Sligo Rovers: Ed McGinty; Lewis Banks, Kyle McFadden, Teemu Penninkangas, Regan Donelon; David Cawley, Will Seymore (Ryan De Vries 90); Junior, Garry Buckley (Ronan Murray 81), Jesse Devers; Ronan Coughlan.

Bohemians: James Talbot; Andy Lyons, Dan Casey, Rob Cornwall, Anto Breslin; Conor Levingston, Keith Buckley; Kris Twardek, Dawson Devoy, Danny Grant; Andre Wright.

Referee: Rob Hennessy.

It’s another busy weekend at academy level with all five teams playing league games between Friday and Sunday.

Tonight in Finn Park, Alan Farry and Kieran Brick take their Under 13 team to face Finn Harps. The sides met last Friday night in Sligo with the visitors taking all three points thanks to three second half goals.

Our under 15 squad face Derry City on Saturday at 2pm at The Showgrounds. The sides met on the opening day of the season with Rovers running out winners in Donegal in August.

The team are looking to make it five wins from five in the league so far.

Sunday sees three games down for decision with Ryan Casey’s under 17 team travelling to Aileach, Donegal to face Derry City. The last time the teams met, they couldn’t be seperated with the game finishing 1-1 thanks to Darragh Reilly’s equaliser. We wish Darragh well in his recovery from an injury picked up lately.

Brian Dorrian and our under 19 side take on the same opposition at 2pm at The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium. Rovers defeated Longford Town on Wednesday and will be hoping to take that form into Sunday’s game, having been defeated by the Candystripes back in August.

The final game of the weekend sees our under 17 Ladies team host Peamount at The Showgrounds. The girls have had a good start to their campaign picking up a win and a draw from the first two fixtures, against Shamrock Rovers and Donegal.

The game kicks off at 6:30pm.

Best of luck to all our players and coaching staff this weekend.

Sligo Rovers host Bohemians on Friday night in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division in The Showgrounds in a match to be broadcast live on RTÉ2, kick-off 7:45pm.

Rovers earned a first draw of the season last week against St Patrick’s Athletic, and extended an unbeaten run to five matches in league and Cup.

The Bit O’ Red are in fifth position in the table, with Bohs three placed and five points ahead.

In team news Danny Kane (ankle), Darren Collins (ankle), Sigitas Olberkis (hamstring) and Johnny Dunleavy (knee) are out. Niall Morahan serves a one-game suspension for the red card last week.

Manager Liam Buckley said: “Given it wasn’t a performance we were happy with last week, a point was important for us. It’s a congested table so every result counts.

“This is another six-pointer, a good result could put us right up there again. We have to eke out as many results as we can, it is something we’ve said to the players from the start of the season. It makes all the difference. This is a stiff test, but one we are looking forward to.

“We’re expecting a tight game. One thing we would like to do compared to last week is keep possession better and use it better. That sort of improvement will be important.

“We can’t affect what Bohs do, except by imposing ourselves on the game, our focus is on producing an overall performance from our end.

“I’m delighted to have our supporters back with us, even if it is only 100. They’ve been with us every step of the way this year, even when we haven’t seen much of them because of the circumstances. We’re certainly aware of the support they give us.

“Having 100 of them behind us will mean something. In this short truncated season, we have to be grateful for every occasion.

“We know there’ll be plenty watching on television and online so we’re going to try to put in the performance for them as well.”

Kick-off is 7:45pm. Supporters who have been issued match info following successful ballot for tickets should follow advice given. No other supporters can be admitted. The match is live on RTÉ2 and WATCHLOI.  

Sligo Rovers can confirm that 100 supporters will be permitted to attend Friday’s SSE Airtricity Premier Division game with Bohemians.

Following updated regulations by the government on the six-month plan for Covid-19, The Showgrounds can admit 100 fans from today. 

As part of our commitment to loyal supporters, the club will now use our season ticket holder database to randomly select those that can attend.

The match with Dundalk last month was due to be played in front of a small number of fans who had not yet attended a game and were successful in the ballot. 

However a change in regulations meant they could not attend. Those fans will now be contacted to inform them that they can instead be at The Showgrounds for Friday’s game.

The rest of the places in the 100 allocation will come from season ticket holders who have not attended a game since Covid-19 regulations came in. They too will be contacted shortly. Our match night personnel needed for each game and the daily running of the club will also be in place to ensure a safe event takes place. 

We thank our supporters for the incredible backing they given us in the last six months and look forward to welcoming even more fans for the remaining two home games if possible. 

Friday’s match is live on RTE2 and worldwide on WATCHLOI.

Our under 13 team were first up this weekend when they welcomed Finn Harps to The Sean Fallon Centre on Friday night.

The team competed well for large stages of the game, creating some good chances in either half. With twenty minutes remaining, the teams were level at 0-0. Harps took the lead with fifteen minutes left, and added two more goals before the end to make it 3-0 at full time.

On Saturday, both our under 15 and 17 boys took on the same opposition.

In Drumoghill, Donegal, Rovers ran out 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Adam Nugent and Conor Devaney. This result sees Rovers lead the group on a maximum 12 points from the opening four games.

The Bit O’ Red were without a couple of players for this fixture due to their involvement with the under 17 squad, so this result shows the strength in depth of Conor O’ Grady’s squad.

At 1pm, our under 17 team hosted Harps at The Sean Fallon Centre. These two sides met a fortnight ago and it was the same scoreline this time around with Rovers winning 5-0 thanks to a Johnny Kenny hattrick, taking his tally to 9 league goals for the season, and a goal a piece from Kailin Barlow and Oran Groarke. Ryan Casey’s side have now won their last three games and remain unbeaten in the league so far.

Our under 17 ladies team travelled to Letterkenny to take on Donegal at 5:30pm, also on Saturday.

A lively start to the game saw Rovers take the lead, and be pegged back straight away inside the opening minutes. Two Sarah Kiernan goals as well as a Muireann Devaney strike eventually saw The Bit O’ Red run out winners on a 3-2 scoreline. This result continues a solid start to the campaign with four points from the opening two games.

On Sunday, our under 19 squad also played Finn Harps at The Sean Fallon Centre.

A tight first half saw both sides create chances and either goalkeeper making a couple of good saves. The game opened up after the break and Harps took the lead from the penalty spot before Johnny Kenny, having scored three the previous day for the under 17 team, equalised for Rovers.

The game could have gone either way at this point but the away team took all three points thanks to a fine header late on.

Thanks to our sponsors Pure Telecom, Ivor Parke, O’ Connor Cabins, EJ Menswear and Verus Metrology.

Sligo Rovers drew 0-0 with St Patrick’s Athletic last Saturday in Richmond Park.

Both sides made just one change from differing results last time out, St Pat’s losing 3-0 in Waterford while in-form Sligo notched up their fifth win from six games with a 3-1 home victory over Finn Harps.

St Pat’s began positively with Georgie Kelly, Chris Forrester, Jamie Lennon and Robbie Benson having sights of goal that came to nothing, all inside the opening seven minutes.

Composed in their passing, the home side maintained their dominance of the ball as Sligo laboured to get a foothold in the game.

Liam Buckley’s side finally managed to do that on 24 minutes, springing to life in an attacking sense to carve the first real opening of the game. 

Right-back Lewis Banks’ diagonal ball was helped on by skipper David Cawley for Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe. The Londoner cut across the St Pat’s 18-yard area to unleash his shot that was deflected out for a corner.

Minutes later, the visitors’ more direct approach troubled St Pat’s again. Jesse Devers played a long-range one-two with Will Seymore to get into space on the right.

The cross, though, had just a little too much on it for Ronan Coughlan who couldn’t get any real purchase on his header that was well off target.

Likewise Junior a minute before half-time, when the winger glanced a header wide from Cawley’s cross after Sligo had worked a short corner.

As in the first, St Pat’s began the second half on the front foot.

A promising move involving Forrester, Kelly and Billy King set up Shane Griffin whose drive was blocked and cleared by a blanket Sligo defence.

Left-back Griffin then did well two minutes later when getting across the end line only to drill his shot into the side netting.

Upping the tempo, St Pat’s were inches from a deserved lead on 61 minutes.

The impressive Feely’s cross dropped awkwardly for Benson in the area, though the midfielder still managed to direct it off his thigh onto a post, Banks hacking the loose ball clear.

The same upright came to Sligo’s rescue again on 83 minutes as Forrester’s curling shot beat Ed McGinty only to strike the butt of his left-hand post.

Club captain Ian Bermingham’s late introduced marked a record 309th league appearance for St Pat’s. 

Rovers then finished with ten men when midfielder Niall Morahan was sent off for a second booking in stoppage time.

St Patrick’s Athletic: Brendan Clarke; Rory Feely, Luke McNally, Lee Desmond, Shane Griffin (Ian Bermingham 81); Jamie Lennon (Darragh Markey 86), Chris Forrester; Jordan Gibson, Robbie Benson, Billy King (Jason McClelland 70); Georgie Kelly.

Sligo Rovers: Ed McGinty; Lewis Banks, Kyle McFadden, Teemu Penninkangas, Regan Donelon; Niall Morahan, David Cawley; Jesse Devers (Alex Cooper 87), Will Seymore (Garry Buckley 75), Junior; Ronan Coughlan.

Referee: Derek Tomney (Dublin)

Sligo Rovers will face St Patrick’s Athletic on Saturday in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division in a 5pm kick-off in Richmond Park.

Now third in the SSE Airtricity League table after winning five of the six games since the league resumed, the Bit O’ Red face Stephen O’Donnell’s side who are just four points behind.

In team news Danny Kane (ankle), Darren Collins (ankle), Sigitas Olberkis (hamstring) and Johnny Dunleavy (knee) are out.

Alex Cooper returns from a hamstring problem.

Liam Buckley said: “There wasn’t a lot in the game last Monday, it was an important win when you factor in the league table and how things are.

“It’s a hard, hard league and every game is a big ask. Looking back on Pat’s last week, the scoreline did not reflect the game, it wasn’t a 3-0 match. They’re right in the mix as as all the teams are.

“We’ve been producing a serious effort in these games. The credit goes to the players, they are putting in these shifts.”

Rovers won in Derry on 31 July, but the good form has been aided most by the home record, with four victories in succession. Now faced with more games on the road, behind closed doors, Buckley is adamant is all that counts is attitude.

“It’s about application. If the application is spot on, then you have a chance in any game. That is what has pleased me most, that the players have worked so hard and the results have come with it.

“At times we want more in terms of an overall team performance, we have shown what we can do in moments in games. We’re always looking to improve on that and it’s no different this Saturday.

“Alex Cooper comes back in this week. We can see a healthy competition within the group, all the players are contributing. It makes training all the better when we have more players available. We’re still without a few lads but the rest have recovered well from Monday. We’ve prepared as best we can and look forward to the game.”

All five academy teams are in action this weekend, as the league tables begin to take shape in each division.

All our academy boys teams take on Finn Harps, starting tonight with the under 13 game at The Sean Fallon Centre. The squad have been out of action competitively since August 23rd but two friendly wins since then sets them up for this evening’s game. Kick off is 7.30pm, however this game is behind closed doors with only on parent per player allowed entry.

On Saturday, The Under 15 squad travels to Drumoghill, Donegal to face The Harps at 2pm. The team have been in fine form so far this season, with three wins from three in the league.

At 1pm at The Sean Fallon Centre, Ryan Casey’s Under 17 squad host the same opposition, behind closed doors. The sides met a fortnight ago in Donegal with Rovers running out convincing winners. With three games remaining in the group, this is an important game for both sides.

Our Ladies Under 17 team take on Donegal at 5:30pm in Leckview Park, Letterkenny. The game was postponed back in August and a positive result on match day one last week against Shamrock Rovers sets the girls up nicely for this tough encounter. The Bit O’ Red fought back from 3-1 down last Saturday, showing great determination and never say die attitude.

To round up the weekend, the under 19’s play Finn Harps on Sunday at 2pm at The Sean Fallon Centre. The sides met just last Saturday at Finn Park with the hosts winning 5-2. The game is again behind closed doors.

We wish all our staff and players the best of luck this weekend.

Sligo Rovers can announce a successful application for LEADER Programme funding to prepare a masterplan to assess all aspects of the football club and infrastructural development.

The application process began last year, with the club receiving confirmation of its success recently.

Sligo Rovers have since began a tender process to create the masterplan – which will be of multiple cost of the strategic plan created in 2017 and a result significantly more detailed.        

A total of 12 applications were received, with Rhatigan Architects winning the tender based on specifications required and set out. 

Rhatigan Architects have experience of developing a number of masterplans for the likes of IT Sligo, Ballyhaise Agriculture College, as well as developing dedicated sports facilities such as Sligo racecourse.

The masterplan will examine the external environment for the football club, such as economic conditions in the country and Irish football.

Internally, footballing performance and structures, underage structures, quality and extend of promotional campaigns of the club and reach of community, with potential growth areas, will also be examined.

Infrastructural development based on a benefit to the community of Sligo and the west of Ireland will be a key component of the masterplan.

The grant will cover a substantial part of the cost of the masterplan, with the club set to use the upcoming Annual Draw for part of the rest of the cost.

Sligo Rovers chairman Tommy Higgins said: “We are delighted to secure the LEADER Programme funding for this project which is vital for the future of the football club. The funding will allow for creation for a thorough and detailed masterplan

“The masterplan will allow us to create a vision for the football club based on the use of The Showgrounds as a facility and a footballing philosophy to capitalise on the enormous potential of our academy, our brand name and the legacy of the remarkable story of Sligo Rovers. It will also assess the day-to-day running of the club and the improvements that can be made.

“As a supporter and now chairman, I have seen the growth of the football club over the last decade. We have a fan-owned club with a focus on community that will stay as such, and we believe it is the time to take the club to a higher level and bring further benefits to our region.

“This masterplan will guide that vision. Over the coming months Rhatigan Architects will engage with various stakeholders and a sub-committee for the project is being finalised.

“We are informing our supporters and the wider public of being successful in the application and that such work will be ongoing over the coming months. I’d like to thank LEADER and all that tendered for the project, as well as Sligo County Council for their ongoing support of the football club and their desire to see us further flourish as a vital part of the community.”  

Sligo Rovers manager Liam Buckley said the red cards were decisive in the 3-1 victory over Finn Harps on Monday night as well as Ronan Murray’s introduction in The Showgrounds.

After 60 minutes where Rovers threatened to be better than Harps, it was the visitors who had more of an influence on affairs.

But repeated fouling from the visitors led to inevitable red cards, which helped the Bit O’ Red secure the win.

“There wasn’t a lot in the game for an hour, a draw was probably a fair result, a fairly scrappy game,” Buckley told RTE Sport.

“It’s probably as poor as we’ve played this season for the first hour. You need a break, the sending-offs had a big baring. That said, we have to play better. For the first hour it was in fits and starts. I would expect us to do better and hopefully we can do over the next few weeks.

“The last half hour we got back into it. It was fairly feisty, to put it mildly. But from where we at, it was just an important win for us. We picked up results over the last few weeks and we’ve a bit of momentum going. Hopefully we can continue with that. “

Murray showed his class with the second goal and causing all sorts of problems for Harps.

 “He’s on his way back [from injury]. He’s a top player. That’s why we have him in our group. He has come on and done the business for us.”

“We are not getting ahead of ourselves. It’s amazing what can happen over a few weeks. We’ll keep our feet on the ground. We have Pat’s next.

“It’s such a fickle business. If you don’t turn up you can get turned over. In fairness to the boys they are putting in some serious shifts every week. Hopefully that continues and we push on from there.”