Ed McGinty was Sligo Rovers’ hero as the Bit O’Red emerged from a second half Shamrock Rovers onslaught, to take a point from Tallaght.

McGinty pulled off several impressive stops in each half to repeatedly deny the home side.

The Hoops even had goalkeeper Alan Mannus in the Rovers box for two late corners, but Rovers held out.

Jack Byrne, instrumental in Sligo’s last visit to Dublin 24, showed form once more and went close early on.

His cheeky turn past his marker allowed him time and space to launch an effort at goal from the edge of the area.

The in-form McGinty doing enough to keep the Irish international at bay.

The Bit O’Red were sloppy in their distribution from the back at times and almost paid for this on 19 minutes.

A loose ball from deep was set upon by Dylan Watts whose initial effort was blocked.

Possession falling to Sean Kavanagh who steadied himself before blasting over from ten yards.

Debutant Graham Cummins should have had the Hoops ahead three minutes from the break.

Unmarked and with Sligo’s centre halves and sixes and sevens, the former Cork City man could only crack his free header from a Greg Bolger cross straight on to McGinty’s crossbar.

The Scot continued to keep the westerners in this. Twice denying Kavanagh before the break with a couple of fine stops.

McGinty was at it again moments after the re-start as he got a finger-tip to Byrne’s belter from distance.

While the same man was alert to come and meet Cummins to block down the striker’s go at goal just before the hour.

It remained one way traffic and McGinty was again the hero as he spread himself to divert Cummins’ next effort away.

Substitute Dan Carr could only drag his effort from the angle wide of the target on 65 with Stephen Bradley’s charges remaining frustrated.

McGinty then had to push Watts’ cross on to his own crossbar with fifteen to go as the Dubliners continued to smother Sligo with pressure.

Cummins, Carr and Gary O’Neill all had chances to convert as news of Derry’s late leveller against Dundalk filtered through.

However, Rovers somehow held out for a valuable point on the road.

Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus; Joey O’Brien, Roberto Lopes, Lee Grace, Sean Kavanagh; Dylan Watts (Aaron Greene 76), Greg Bolger (Gary O’Neill 63); Jack Byrne, Ronan Finn (Dan Carr 59), Trevor Clarke; Graham Cummins.

Sligo Rovers: Ed McGinty; Kyle Callan-McFadden, John Mahon, Dante Leverock; Jonny Dunleavy, Lewis Banks; David Cawley (Niall Morahan 77), John Russell (Sam Warde 67); Ronan Murray (Kris Twardek 67), Romeo Parkes; Ronan Coughlan.

Referee: Neil Doyle.

Attendance: 2,612.

Sligo Rovers take on Shamrock Rovers on Friday night in Tallaght Stadium in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division.

Ahead of a third meeting of the season, both sides have one win each so far, 3-0 in Tallaght and 2-1 in Sligo.

Rovers are in sixth position in the table and will stay there regardless of the result on Friday, trailing St Pat’s by five points and four ahead of Cork.

In team news, Regan Donelon is the only injury double (hamstring) and will be tested pre-game. Otherwise it’s a full squad as Daryl Fordyce returns from an Achilles problem.

Liam Buckley said: “It was a good response on Monday. I said to the lads afterwards that while we may have regrets over our performance and result against Finn Harps that it is in the past now.  

“Beating UCD didn’t make up for it. but there is nothing we can do about it except go to games like this and try to make up points where we can in every game.

“I said at the break that our medium-term goal is take as many points as we can from all the games and that must include grit and determination and desire to do so.  We look forward now.

“I thought we kept it simple, kept it moving and we want to build on that. When we went to Tallaght for the first game, we didn’t really perform at all. That was 15th March and I think we’re a lot different team now and I’d like us to go out and do ourselves justice.

“It’s not easy at all to do that in Tallaght. I think the only defeats they have had there are ones they can count themselves unfortunate against Dundalk and Bohs so it’s a tough, tough game for us.

“That said, we’ll go there looking to take the football we played on Monday into this game and see where that takes us.”

Buckley added on transfer targets in this window.

“We are looking at what we can do certainly but at this moment everything is still undecided. If the right player is there for us we’ll try to make it work.

“There is no concrete update on players going in or out and this stage. But the club, the staff and I are monitoring the situation of ins and outs and when we have news we’ll let the fans know.”

Accrington Stanley’s Seamus Conneely is looking forward to a return to Sligo next Monday.

Stanley are back in pre-season and face their first friendly game in The Showgrounds against the Bit O’ Red.

At the time of chatting to www.sligorovers.com, Conneely had just completed his latest session as Accrington get put through their paces at an army base in Oxfordshire.

“It’s hard going yes. We just did a run there where you have all the equipment so you feel it.

“There’s a lot of the drills that you would do and the soldiers are with us so it’s very much some of the experience.

“We had footballs out earlier in pre-season. It’s structured to build up fitness and obviously to get going on the pitch. I think we are looking forward to starting the games at this stage though!”

Conneely still keeps an eye out on Rovers and his home club Galway United ahead of his return to Ireland on Monday.

“I look out every week for Sligo’s result and Galway as well.

“I’m disappointed for Galway United and where they are at. I think with even a small bit more investment that could change but it’s hard I know.

“Sligo are doing okay, I see the gap growing from the top clubs because of the European money so they are doing well in that respect. I’m sure they are looking to break into that top four.

“John Coleman mentioned a few times that he was trying to get a friendly in Sligo at the end of last season and I kept asking him so I was delighted when it was confirmed.

“John was really keen to go there. He knows Sligo will be the ideal game and has an affection for the club and the place.

“My Dad will be there and friends of the family and I can’t wait to see some old friends from the club.

“I’m sure a lot of the lads based locally who were part of the teams from 2012 and 2013 and that will come out too. “

The full interview will appear in the Sligo Rovers match programme on Monday.

Vote for the Sligo Rovers Wehrly’s Bros Jewellers Player of the Month for June in our online poll.

The games covered in this month are the 1-1 draws with St Patrick’s Athletic and Cork City and the defeat to Finn Harps.

Vote here

Sligo Rovers host Accrington Stanley in a friendly this Monday in The Showgrounds, kick-off 7:45pm.

The match will see John Coleman bring his League 1 side to Sligo for their first of the new campaign.

Seamus Conneely will be part of the Accrington squad.

Rovers will host a summer party with all the details below. To register e-mail shane@sligorovers.com or phone 071-9171212

Tickets are also available here

Sligo Rovers are currently seeking part time candidate(s) looking to gain experience in the area of video analysis for our underage sides.

College placement or work experience options are available.

You will be required to:

• Attend all underage home fixtures
• Liaise with underage management on a weekly basis
• Upload videos to the club’s video analysis platform
• Report back to management on opposition through opposition video analysis

To apply, send a copy of your CV and cover note to colinfeehilysrfc@hotmail.com

Closing date is Friday, July 19^th 2019

Members of the Sligo Rovers squad attended Sligo’s Surf 4 All Summer Camp at Streedagh Beach on Tuesday.

Surf4All Sligo have been putting on a fantastic five day event at Streedagh making surfing accessible to young people with autism.

It is all done with the help of volunteers, so our players swapped the training pitch for the beach after their victory over UCD on Monday night.

The camp, which was in it’s second day, will cater for 21 children with autism this week, and is ran in conjunction with Sligo Sport & recreation partnership as well as Sligo Autism Service and Surf Ireland.

CEO Colin Feehily: “We were delighted to be able to give up some time and help out at the summer camp.

“The lads who took part really enjoyed it and it was great to see the kids enjoy it too. As a club we try and give something back in the community, and this is something we will continue to do in the future.

“There are some fantastic initiatives on going in the county, and the region, and it was a pleasure to be involved.”

The Sligo Rovers Annual Draw generated a truly extraordinary €78,340 in ticket sales this year.

David Gaule from Rathcormack won the top prize of €5,000.

This year the Annual Draw ticket sellers covered more ground than every before, going door to door, not just in County Sligo and Sligo Town but border regions and other counties as well.

The team was up to 20 people and the result was remarkable.

Club chairman Martin Heraghty said: “This is an incredible achievement by everyone at the club and the region. It shows what Sligo Rovers means to the public.

“A volunteer team devoted their summer nights to selling tickets on behalf of the club. They sacrificed time with family, friends on evenings and weekends going door to door. This is the history, heritage and spirit of Sligo Rovers at its strongest.

“I can tell you I am very proud of that team today. Mark Cummins in particular deserves great credit as the head of the group and chief organiser of the draw.

“We issued a message at the mid-season break over the difficulty of running a League of Ireland club in the current environment. We spoke about rising costs and an under-funded league. I wish I could tell you €78,000 is going to a new project or an idea for the future. The generosity of our fans in supporting it speaks volumes. They understand the environment.

“The reality is this is to fund the club for those costs and without it we would be having a different conversation today.

“We know the unquenchable desire within Sligo for the club to achieve success again and tickets sales extended to Leitrim and Mayo which also tells a story.

“It inspires the committee, it inspires the ticket sellers, and the playing squad and management have a greater understanding of why this all happens which is important to us as a club.

“We will use this momentum to try to keep driving this club in an upward trajectory.”

The prize winners:

1st prize: €5,000 – David Gaule, Rathcormack

2nd prize: One Night B&B for two people at the 5 Star Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin – Austin O’Callaghan, Rahaberna

3rd prize: Two tickets for Rod Stewart for his 4th December Concert plus One Night B&B and Evening Meal in The Croke Park Hotel. – Brendan O’Donnell c/o PSO

4th prize: One Night B&B and Evening Meal for two people at the Titanic Hotel in Belfast – Dylan Henry, Ballisadare

5th prize: One Night B&B for two people in Hotel Westport, Co Mayo – Gerard Devaney, Lisheen

6th prize: €200 voucher for 4 Star Old Ground Hotel, Ennis, Co Clare – Paul Feehily, Tubbercurry

7th prize: €150 Gift Voucher for The Cat and The Moon – Stephanie Sproule

8th prize: Sligo Rovers season ticket for 2020 – Niall McLean, Dublin Supporters Club

9th prize: 2 Premier Level Tickets for the Republic of Ireland versus Switzerland on 5th September in Aviva Stadium Euro 2020 qualifer – Brendan Rooney, Circular Road

10th prize: Signed Sligo Rovers jersey – PJ Sweeney

Ronan Coughlan netted a hat-trick for Sligo Rovers as they hammered UCD at the Showgrounds to pick up their first win in five games.

The away side took the lead in this one through skipper Liam Scales but Sligo turned the match completely on its head courtesy of Coughlan’s heroics, along with strikes from Johnny Dunleavy and Romeo Parkes.

In search of their first points on the road this season, it was UCD who impressed early on.

Yoyo Mahdy had Ed McGinty at full stretch to keep out his powerful effort before the Students hit the lead.

Bristol Rovers-bound Scales showed his strength as he muscled his way to the front post to head home Richie O’Farrell’s corner.

Rovers slowly found their feet and worked their way back into this tie. Conor Kearns got a strong hand to Coughlan’s shot on eleven minutes, before Parkes saw his effort sail past the far post from close range on the quarter hour.

Liam Buckley’s charges deservedly levelled the tie when Dunleavy latched on to David Cawley’s corner, although it looked like UCD keeper Conor Kearns could have done better.

Sligo were ahead less than 60 seconds later. Cawley pushed the ball into the path of Coughlan, who tucked it beyond Kearns for his first of the night.

Rovers had their third before the break. Parkes held off his man, biding his time before supplying the oncoming Coughlan who was left with a simple finish.

Parkes added his name to the score-sheet five minutes into the second half, the Jamaican left to tap the ball in at the back post from Dunleavy’s square.

Coughlan then had his hat-trick moments later, after he lifted the ball over a despairing Kearns from inside the six-yard box.

Parkes missed two late chances to claim his brace but Kearns twice got down quick enough to get a hand to both efforts.

Sligo Rovers: Ed McGinty; Johnny Dunleavy (Niall Morahan 53), Kyle Callan-McFadden, Dante Leverock, Lewis Banks; Kris Twardek, John Russell (John Mahon 70), David Cawley, Romeo Parkes; Ronan Coughlan (Brian Morley 58), Ronan Murray.

UCD: Conor Kearns; Dan Tobin (Harry McEnvoy 86), Evan Farrell, Josh Collins (Luke Boore HT), Liam Scales; Paul Doyle, Mark Dignam; Jason McClelland, Richie O’Farrell, Yoyo Mahdy (Hugh Torfeldt 86); Danu Bishop.

Referee: Damien MacGraith

Tonights match programme is 44 pages and includes a free poster of Sligo Rovers great Gavin Dykes

Liam Buckley – his thoughts on tonight’s game

Conall Collier – Time to celebrate GAA success for Sligo and Leitrim

Lewis Banks signs for another year

Lucid outlook for an All-Island League

20 Questions with David Cawley

Colin Feehily – Sligo Rovers Chief Executive

Sligo Rovers International Players by Joe Molloy

Red Icon – Ray Gallagher

Stephen McLoughlin on tonight’s game

You Reds – some nice photos