Chapman strike earns Rovers the points

Sligo Rovers 1 – 0 St Patrick’s Athletic

Ellis Chapman’s 23rd minute strike gave Sligo Rovers a much needed shot in the arm as they saw off St Patrick’s Athletic at the Showgrounds.

Chapman’s strike from range, handed the Bt O’Red their first win in seven and moved the Connacht men to within a single point of their opponents in the league table.

Without a host of first team players courtesy of injuries and suspension, Sligo boss John Russell handed 18-year-old Conor Reynolds a first senior start in place of the suspended JR Wilson, while Fabrice Hartmann returned to the first eleven for the first time in three games.

The starting Saints, looking for a fourth win on the spin over their opponents, included Kieran Freeman, Jamie Lennon and Jake Mulraney each of whom missed Friday’s win over Drogheda.
Rovers led this game at the interval and although they impressed at times, it was the Dubliners who fashioned the majority of the play in front of goal.

John Daly’s charges should have been ahead on nine minutes when Chris Forrester and Brandon Kavanagh combined to find former Sligo youth Ruairi Keating. The striker, unmarked, fluffed his lines from a goal-scoring position as he somehow blazed over from ten yards out.

Conor Keeley’s header from a Kavanagh free landed on the roof of the Rovers net on the quarter hour as Pat’s issued another warning shot, Mulraney in particular causing concern down their left flank.

Chapman then fired the home side in front on 23 minutes when the midfielder struck for his fourth goal of the year. The former Cheltenham man steadying himself before lashing past Danny Rogers from 25 yards, somewhat against the flow of proceedings.

Rovers goalkeeper Ed McGinty had to bat away an effort from the angle from Keating early in the second period, as Russell’s side looked to map a way to their first win over Pat’s since last year’s May Bank Holiday.

McGinty was in the thick of things again on 61 minutes when he executed a magnificent reaction save to deny Forrester’s stab at goal from a swerving Kavanagh set piece.

The home support thought they had a penalty on 71 when substitute Rein Smit went to ground following a challenge by Pat’s net minder Rogers. Referee David Dunne translated the situation differently however, awarding a free out and booking the Dutch striker for simulation.  

Connor Malley’s drive from 30 yards whistled over the Dubliners’ crossbar with twelve to go as Rovers, now the better side, sought to kill the game.
There was a late push from the visitors, who looked unconvincing going forward although Rovers did have to rely on a heroic late block from skipper Niall Morahan on Pat’s sub Mason Melia.

Sligo Rovers: Ed McGinty; Conor Reynolds (Kailin Barlow 68), Charlie Wiggett, Ollie Denham, Reece Hutchinson; Niall Morahan, Ellis Chapman, Connor Malley; Fabrice Hartmann (Owen Elding 57), Stefan Radosavljevic (Wilson Waweru 84); Max Mata (Rein Smit 68).

St Patrick’s Athletic: Danny Rogers; Kieran Freeman, Conor Keeley, Luke Turner, Anto Breslin; Jamie Lennon; Chris Forrester, Brandon Kavanagh (Romal Palmer 68); Jake Mulraney (Kian Leavy 73), Alex Nolan (Mason Melia 68), Ruairi Keating.  

Referee: David Dunne

Attendance: 2,548.

Match Report: vs Wexford FC

WOMEN’S PREMIER DIVISION
MATCH REPORT by CONALL COLLIER
WEXFORD 4, SLIGO ROVERS 1

Sligo Rovers conceded three second-half goals after getting back to parity as they lost to hosts Wexford in the Women’s Premier Division on Saturday night.

It was a harsh outcome for the battling Bit O’Red who lost the influential Jodie Loughrey on 66 minutes after a challenge from Wexford goalkeeper Jayne
Merren forced her out of the action and also denied what looked like a good
goal-scoring chance.

Manager Tommy Hewitt made a number of changes from the previous outing against Cork City seven days earlier with Alice Lillie, Sarah Kiernan and Amy Roddy in the starting 11 in place of Eimear Lafferty, Emma Hansberry and Paula McGrory.

Wexford hit the front after 16 minutes of a well-contested first-half when Ciara Rossiter created an opening and Ellen Molloy raced through the Bit O’Red rearguard and finished confidently to the net.

Close to the half-hour mark Wexford had a gilt-edged chance of a second goal, but Kylie Murphy headed over the bar and soon after Sligo Rovers were unlucky not to level when persistence from Jodie Loughrey was rewarded.

She got into a good position in the Wexford penalty area and gave Muireann Devaney a glimpse of goal, but the danger was averted at the expense of a corner.

Cara King replaced Alice Lillie for Sligo Rovers at the interval and the Bit O’Red got back on level terms within a minute of the resumption when Kelly Crompton powered home a header.

However, parity lasted less than three minutes after some hesitant defending gave Wexford an opportunity and Ciara Rossiter capitalised to make it 2-1.

Sligo Rovers reacted positively and Keri Loughrey’s shot was saved by Jayne
Merren who also got down to save another Crompton header in the 63rd minute.

From the resultant clearance Wexford added a third goal when Rossiter once more finished well.

The Bit O’Red countered again, but Jodie Loughrey’s momentum was halted as Merren surged out of her penalty area and was deemed to have committed a yellow-card challenge,

Loughrey limped out of the action and the Wexford custodian was perhaps fortunate to avoid a red card?

Katie Melly replaced the unfortunate Loughrey, but despite the best efforts of the players for the remainder they couldn’t make any impact and conceded a fourth when Rossiter completed her hat-trick near the end.

Wexford – Jayne Merren; Abby Tuthill, Orlaith Conlon, Della Doherty, Kylie Murphy, Ellen Molloy, Ceola Bergin, Ciara Rossiter, Meabh Russell, Aoibheann Clancy, Aine Walsh. 

Subs – Leah McGrath for Walsh 74 mins, Teegan Lynch for Clancy, Freya De Mange for Bergin and Mia Lenihan for Rossiter all 85m, Millie Daly for Conlon 90m.

Sligo Rovers – Amber Hardy,Alice Lillie, Sarah Kiernan, Kelsey Munroe, Keeva Flynn, Kelly Crompton, Muireann Devaney, Zoe McGlynn, Amy Roddy, Keri Loughrey, Jodie Loughrey. 

Subs – Cara King for Lillie half-time, Katie Melly for J Loughrey 66 mins, Eimear Lafferty for Roddy 80m, Kate Nugent for K Loughrey, Leah Kelly for Crompton and Ciara Henry for McGlynn all 83m.

Team News: v St Patrick’s Athletic

Sligo Rovers are in action for the second time in four days this Bank Holiday Monday as St Patrick’s Athletic visit the Showgrounds. 

Supporters are asked to note the earlier kick off time of 5pm. 

Rovers will again be without the services of Simon Power and Will Fitzgerald. While Nando Pijnaker and John Mahon remain unavailable. 

JR Wilson will serve a suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards. 

While Wilson Waweru will be assessed before the game.

Rovers are looking to recover from Friday’s defeat to Waterford as they face Pat’s for the second time this year. 

Manager John Russell wants his players to bounce back on Monday afternoon. 

“Friday was hugely frustrating for us and our supporters. We do not like losing games and the players were all hurting in the dressing room afterwards as they knew we had enough chances to win the game”, he noted. 

“Monday gives us an opportunity in front of our home fans to get a result and build some momentum again. We need everyone in the ground to get right behind us.” 

Pattisson goal decides Waterford encounter

Sligo Rovers 0 – 1 Waterford

Sligo Rovers were undone by Christie Pattison’s 46th minute strike as the Bit O’Red were beaten by Waterford at the Showgrounds. 

Following a 15 minute delay to kick-off due to an issue with the pitch, a competitive opening period ensued between two sides eager to take the spoils. 

Max Mata nodded a Reece Hutchinson cross wide after five minutes, while both Ben McCormack and Connor Parsons skied respective efforts at the opposite end.

The game’s first real chance arrived on 20 minutes when Pattisson found the roaming Parsons in space. The wide man pulled a superb save out of Ed McGinty at the goalkeeper’s near post.

A number of injuries to the Sligo squad meant Rovers were only able to name one experienced first-team player on their bench. 

It was the hosts who ended the opening 45 the stronger. Stefan Radosavljevic and Connor Malley going close to an opener. While Grant Horton managed to sweep Mata’s effort off the visitor’s goal-line after both Malley and Ellis Chapman had both threatened in the build up.

The second half was just seconds old when Waterford took the lead. Pattison crashing a thundering right-footed half-volley beyond McGinty after Rowan McDonald’s cross found the wide-man in space. 

Rovers pressed for the equaliser late on and went close again courtsey of Mata and Charlie Wiggett. While McGinty pulled off a wonderful late stop to deny former Rovers man Padraig Amond late on.

Sligo Rovers: Ed McGinty; Charlie Wiggett, Ollie Denham, Ellis Chapman (Owen Elding 71); JR Wilson, Reece Hutchinson; Niall Morahan, Connor Malley; Rein Smit, Max Mata, Stefan Radosavljevic (Fabrice Hartmann 71). 

Waterford: Sam Sargeant; Darragh Power, Grant Horton, Kacper Radkowski, Darragh Leahy; Dean McMenamy (Niall O’Keefe 75), Ben McCormack (Connor Evans 84), Rowan McDonald; Christie Pattison (Maleace Asamoah 72), Connor Parsons; Padraig Amond. 

Referee: Gavin Colfer. 

Attendance: 2,087.

Team News: v Waterford United

Sligo Rovers have a number of injury concerns ahead of what is a busy May Bank Holiday weekend for the Bit O’Red. 

Rovers take on Waterford at the Showgrounds this Friday, kick off 7.45pm before St Pat’s visit Sligo three days later, on Monday. 

Simon Power will miss the meeting with the Blues, having picked up a knock against Galway recently. 

While Will Fitzgerald, Fabrice Hartmann, Max Mata and Wilson Waweru will be assesed ahead of kick-off. 

Long term absentees Nando Pijnaker and John Mahon continue their recovery from long term knocks. 

Rovers beat Keith Long’s side by a single goal to nil at the RSC back in March. Ellis Chapman’s strike from range decided the contest on the night after what was an extremely closely fought encounter. 

Rovers boss John Russell is expecting similar again on Friday. 

“Our last game with Waterford was a very tight affair and I expect no different this time around”, he said. 

“The players are fully focused on getting a positive result in front of our home supporters. We need them right behind us in what is a big weekend with two home fixtures.”

Boot Collection at the Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce that the Showgrounds will be a collection point for the Our Shoes campaign.
From Monday April 29th until Friday May 3rd the public are encouraged to drop off all of their pre-loved children’s sports shoes and football boots between the hours of 9.30 am and 5.30pm at the Showgrounds.
Our Shoes was set up in 2019 after Ciarán McHugh, Kevin Grant and Geoff Lockwood visited the Khayelitsha township in Cape Town in South Africa which is home to 2.4 million people.
Our Shoes initially ran two pilot appeals which saw the donation of 15,000 pairs of sports shoes which had outlived their intended use in Ireland, but which still have lots of life left in them. In 2023 children in over 300 Irish schools donated 20,000 pairs of shoes to the kids in the townships.
With the help of their partners Our Shoes ship thousands of shoes to South Africa on an annual basis where they are distributed to some of the most deserving kids in the townships. While the group is very welcoming of all donations of all sports shoes for children there is also a particular focus on pre-loved football boots that would enable the many talented players in the townships to play football safely.

Ciaran McHugh from Our Shoes said “A pair of shoes is often the difference between a hopeful or bleak future. Shoes are more than something that keep your feet safe and warm.  Like most countries, you need shoes to go to school in South Africa. Along with shoes being part of the school uniform, they also allow learners safety and provide a sense of self-esteem and dignity. and they are often the most difficult item to get in materially poor communities. We are delighted to partner with Sligo Rovers on this campaign and we are asking the public in the region to donate as many of your preloved children’s sports shoes and football boots to the Showgrounds. It has a real impact on so many lives.

Sligo Rovers FSR officer Jamie Murphy said ” It’s a privilege to team up with Ciaran and the Our Shoes campaign. As a community club we are well aware of the power that football and sport in general can have in creating meaningful change in the lives of people, in particular people from marginalised and disadvantaged backgrounds. From speaking with Ciaran we are well aware of the fantastic impact Our Shoes have on many thousands children and we want to help with that it whatever way we can. In terms of sustainability and reducing the impact that football has on the climate it’s also a fantastic campaign. Because of all of the different types of synthetic materials needed to produce a pair of sports shoes or boots they are almost impossible to recycle. They have a huge carbon footprint and by donating them to kids in townships you are helping to create a more sustainable future for us all.

Match Report: v Drogheda United

Drogheda United 3 -1 Sligo Rovers

Will Fitzgerald’s early opener wasn’t enough as an injury ravaged Sligo Rovers subsequently conceded three without reply to Drogheda United, who beat the Bit O’Red at Weavers Park.

The winger had Rovers in the ascendancy just seven minutes in when he picked out the opposite corner of the net after Wilson Waweru had laid Connor Malley’s forward ball into the path of the Limerick native.

Rovers, who were without a number of key players due to knocks, were on top for spells in the remainder of the tie, but goals from Darragh Markey, Frantz Pierrot and Aaron McNally turned the tide in United’s favour.

Markey sent an unstoppable placed effort from far out into Ed McGinty’s top corner on 24 minutes.

The sides were level until the 70th minute when Luke Heeney went to ground in front of McGinty. Pierrot dispatching the spot-kick.

The result was secured four minutes from time when McNally found a way around the Rovers rearguard.

Up next for Sligo is a home meeting with Waterford on Friday night, while St Pat’s round off a busy May bank holiday weekend with their visit on Monday 6th May, kick-off 5pm.

Drogheda United: Jethren Barr; Luke Heeney, Jack Keaney, Hayden Cann, Conor Kane; Gary Deegan, Oisin Gallagher; Adam Foley (Aaron McNally, 65), Darragh Markey (Dave Webster, 90+1), Warren Davis; Frantz Pierrot (Ryan Brennan, 84).

Sligo Rovers: Ed McGinty; John Ross Wilson, Charlie Wiggett, Oliver Denham, Reece Hutchinson; Niall Morahan Rein Smit, 78), Connor Malley, Ellis Chapman; Stefan Radosavljevic (Owen Elding, 78), Will Fitzgerald (Kailin Barlow, 46); Wilson Waweru.

Referee: Mark Houlihan

Rovers In The Community

Last week the club were privileged to welcome some of the programme participants from the National Learning Network, RehabCare, Elevate, and CI Connect to the Showgrounds for a tour of the ground and for some football sessions. The visit was part of the club’s commitment to ‘Football For All’ and marked the beginning of a programme of football related activities over the next number of weeks.

We are looking forward to welcoming everyone back very soon. For more information on the clubs plans for Football Social Responsibility (FSR) initiatives you can contact our FSR officer on fsr@sligorovers.com

#RoversInTheCommunity #MoreThanFootball

Team News: Away v Drogheda United

Sligo Rovers will hope for a first win in five this Friday as they travel to the north east to take on Drogheda United at Weavers Park. 

The Bit O’Red will be without defensive duo John Mahon and Nando Pijnaker who remain sidelined for a number of weeks, while winger Simon Power will miss out having sustained a knock in last Monday’s stalemate with Galway United.

Rovers have already recorded victory over Drogheda this season when they beat Kevin Doherty’s charges by three goals to one back in mid-March. A quick-fire Max Mata double was followed by a sensational back-heel finish from Wilson Waweru late on, after Andrew Quinn had halved the deficit. 

Speaking ahead of the game, manager John Russell says he is satisfied with the way his team are gelling as the weeks go by. 

“I was pleased with how we played even though we only managed two draws last weekend”, he said.  

“You can see the players are starting to make good connections on the pitch which was evident in the build up to Fabrice Hartmann’s wonder strike against Dundalk. 

“I felt we deserved a penalty in each of the games which was frustrating. I’m hoping these decisions balance themselves out over the course of the season. 

“The players have recovered over the last few days and are ready to go again. As always, we must focus on ourselves and play to our strengths.”

Kick-off at Weavers Park is 7.45pm. 

Match Report: v Galway United

Sligo Rovers 0 – 0 Galway United

Sligo Rovers kept their fifth clean sheet of the season as they were held to a scoreless draw by Galway United at the Showgrounds.

Both sides created chances throughout but both defences and goalkeepers were on top in this one as the spoils were shared. 

Without a win in Sligo since Spring 1996, it was the away side who carved out the better of the openings early on although United may have been lucky not to have conceded an early penalty when Al-Amin Kazeem connected with Ellis Chapman inside the Galway area. 

McGinty had to parry away a curling effort from the inside of Ed McCarthy’s right foot while there was a great chance for Killian Brouder who nodded over from all of five yards.

Simon Power was withdrawn with a knee injury in the second half but did have time to knock an effort off Brendan Clarke’s far post. Chapman blasting over on the follow up.

Both Rovers’ Mata and Galway’s Stephen Walsh went close to opening the scoring late in the half. Mata heading Hartmann’s corner into the ground at the back post, while Walsh blasted his shot across the face of McGinty’s goal. Both players might have done more with their respective efforts. 

Rovers had lost the services of both Hartmann and Power by the time substitute Stefan Radosavljevic fired over from a Will Fitzgerald cross on 64 minutes during a second period in which the chances were at a premium. 

McGinty had to react to keep out a Maurice Nugent header from a Hurley set-piece five minutes later. While the on-loan stopper was called upon again to tip another Hurley header over his crossbar with four to go as the Tribesmen threatened late on. 

There were further opportunities in the eight added minutes. Kazeem blocking Wilson Waweru, while McGinty reached far into the bottom corner to get behind Hurley’s strike on the 98th minute. 

Sligo Rovers: Ed McGinty; JR Wilson, Charlie Wiggett, Ollie Denham, Reece Hutchinson; Niall Morahan, Connor Malley; Simon Power (Stefan Radosavljevic 57), Ellis Chapman (Rein Smit 79), Fabrice Hartmann (Will Fitzgerald HT); Max Mata (Wilson Waweru 73).

Galway United: Brendan Clarke; Rob Slevin, Killian Brouder, Maurice Nugent (Conor O’Keefe 76); Jeannot Esua, Al-Amin Kazeem; David Hurley; Ed McCarthy (Aodh Dervan 67), Karl O’Sullivan (Francely Lomoboto 83); Stephen Walsh, Wassim Aouachria (Vincent Borden HT). 

Referee: Eoghan O’Shea.

Attedance: 2,627.