Sligo Rovers got back to winning ways on Monday with a 1-0 win in Dublin against St. Patrick’s Athletic.

The Bit O’ Red came into the game on the back of a 2-1 defeat against Shamrock Rovers on Friday night at Tallaght Stadium, a game where they dominated for large spells.

Rovers were without a number of players due to injury for the game in Inchicore. Greg Bolger was ruled out with an injury he picked up on Friday and Eanna Clancy could only make the bench but John Mahon returned in time to start and Lukas Browning replaced Bolger in our two changes from Friday.

John Russell was without James Finnerty (Achilles), Fabrice Hartmann (Hamstring), Bogdan Vastsuk (groin), Garry Buckley, Gary Boylan, Mark Byrne (all ACL) and Karl O’ Sullivan & Conor Walsh (both ankle).

The game started with both sides looking to get forward and get an early opening goal in a sun kissed Richmond Park.

Rovers first opportunity came on ten minutes after good play from Niall Morahan who broke forward and found Will Fitzgerald who’s shot was deflected wide.

Kailin Barlow went close soon after and Pats’ Jason McLelland fizzed one just over the bar up the other end.

The first half played out evenly and the sides went in level at the break.

Stefan Radosavljevic replaced Kailin Barlow at half-time, the local man picked up a knock in the opening period.

It was Radosavljevic who was heavily involved in the game’s opening goal on 56 minutes.

John Mahon played a good pass into Max Mata who flicked it around the corner to Radosavljevic. The Faroese International sprayed a pass to Johan Brannefalk on the right who looked up and picked out Mata who continued his run and rose highest to power home his header and put Rovers in front.

St. Pats brought on a number of subs as they looked to get back into the game and John Russell introduced Daniel Lafferty and David Cawley instead of Johan Brannefalk and Mata.

St. Pat’s pushed forward in search of an equaliser but Rovers defended well throughout, with Luke McNicholas claiming some high balls into the box and a combination of Nando Pijnaker and Mahon heading everything that came their way.

The referee added on 5 minutes at the end of the game. Radosavljevic picked up possession on halfway on 92 minutes and slipped it inside for the tireless Frank Liivak who cut inside and almost doubled the lead with a left footed effort which skinned the post.

Eoin Doyle, a second half substitute, added to the home side’s woes moments later as he was sent off for a tackle on Will Fitzgerald.

Rovers saw the game out and claimed a valuable three points in front of around 400 travelling Bit O’ Red supporters.

Next up is Dundalk at The Showgrounds this Saturday night at 7.45pm.

You can buy tickets here: https://srfcdirect.com/match-tickets/

Tickets for our eagerly awaited League clash against Dundalk this Saturday night at The Showgrounds are now on sale for home supporters.

Away fans can also purchase online, with a link provided through Dundalk FC or on their social media platforms.

The game kicks off at 7.45pm and both sides are on 19 points heading into the game after Bank Holiday Monday wins over St. Patrick’s Athletic and UCD respectively.

This is a Category A fixture with tickets starting at €5 for Under 12’s (must be accompanied by an adult), €12 for students and senior citizens and €20 for adults.

We look forward to seeing another huge Showgrounds crowd again this Saturday.

Buy tickets: https://srfcdirect.com/match-tickets/

Sligo Rovers can confirm that striker Cillian Heaney has left the club by mutual consent.

Heaney was a member of the club’s Academy throughout his youth career, after signing from Westport United in Mayo, starting with our Under 15 side and progressing through to the first team squad.

Heaney signed his first professional contract last summer and moves on today with the best wishes of everyone at Sligo Rovers.

The Bit O’ Red travelled to Tallaght Stadium on Friday night to take on Shamrock Rovers in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division.

Both sides came into the game on the back of wins last weekend, the hosts defeating St. Patrick’s Athletic 2-0 and Rovers beating UCD 3-1 at The Showgrounds with goals from Max Mata and Fabrice Hartmann, scoring twice.

There were injury concerns for John Russell heading into the game with Garry Buckley, Gary Boylan, Karl O’ Sullivan, Conor Walsh, Mark Byrne and Bogdan Vastsuk all definitely ruled out.

Eanna Clancy, John Mahon, James Finnerty and Fabrice Hartmann were all carrying knocks and Clancy was the only one to make it, starting in place of Finnerty who picked up and achilles strain in the win over UCD along with Hartmann who tweaked a muscle just moments before his second goal of the evening. John Mahon continues to recover from an ankle problem.

Frank Liivak started in place of Hartmann and the winger was a constant threat down the Rovers right hand side, picking up possession time after time throughout the 90 minutes.

The game started well for the Bit O’ Red with long spells of possession causing problems for the Shamrock Rovers defence. Kailin Barlow picked up some good positions in the final third and wingers Will Fitzgerald and Liivak were always available when needed.

Greg Bolger and Niall Morahan bossed the midfield battle and Rovers forced a few corners which came to nothing.

Against the run of play, the home side took the lead. Markus Poom played a ball in behind the Rovers back four and Johnny Kenny raced onto it to finish past Luke McNicholas to give his side the opening goal on 19 minutes. Kenny, a Riverstown native and a former Bit O’ Red player was muted in his celebrations against his former club.

John Russell’s side didn’t let the goal effect their approach and minutes later Niall Morahan’s shot was deflected behind for a corner and Will Fitzgerald’s cross was headed wide by Max Mata.

A minute later, Frank Liivak broke clear and when it looked like Mata was in behind, the Estonian’s pass evaded him and away to safety.

Mata went close again soon after with a stinging shot, saved by Alan Mannus and Barlow then robbed Poom of possession and teed up Mata who almost scored from distance, with his effort going just wide.

It was 1-0 at half-time.

The second half started as the first half ended, with Rovers dominating possession for long periods and looking to get forward at every opportunity.

Stefan Radosavljevic replaced Kailin Barlow on the hour and against the run of play, the hosts doubled their lead on 64 minutes when Jack Byrne played a lovely pass to Trevor Clarke and he made no mistake, blasting it past McNicholas.

Eanna Clancy was forced off before the restart and Daniel Lafferty replaced him in the back four.

Almost straight from the restart, The Bit O’ Red were back in it. Frank Liivak again broke down the right and cut inside and found Bolger around 25 yards out and his low, powerful shot took a slight deflection of Roberto Lopes and into the net for his first Sligo Rovers goal.

Rovers were pushing everything forward for the last twenty minutes. Russell threw on Lukas Browning and David Cawley for Bogler and Johan Brannefalk and the midfield pair continued to keep possession and probe forward.

Two minutes from the end was Rovers’ best chance to equalise. Radosavljevic’s corner was headed just over the bar by Mata from about 8 yards with Mannus beaten.

Five minutes of injury time couldn’t bring an equaliser and Rovers would head back down the N4 to Sligo frustrated by what could have been.

Next up is an away game with St. Patrick’s Athletic on Bank Holiday Monday at 3pm.

Athlone Town took the Women’s Premier Division points home from the Showgrounds this evening with a 3-1 victory against hosts Sligo Rovers, writes Conall Collier

The defeat leaves the Bit O’Red still searching for a first win of the season as Athlone moved up the table with a third victory in-a-row.

Fiona Doherty and Jodie Loughrey were both handed starting roles by Sligo Rovers manager Steve Feeney after appearing from the bench last weekend against Galway.

Athlone Town manager Tommy Hewitt made a couple of changes from the previous week’s victory with Nausica Costantini and Lucy Jayne Grant coming into the starting 11.

Athlone had a lot of early possession and forced a number of corners that were well dealt with by the home defence while ‘keeper Bonnie McKiernan also handled confidently on her second start for the Bit O’Red.

McKiernan advanced smartly to avert danger from an Athlone Town breakaway in the 21^st minute and soon after finger-tipped a speculative Roisin Molloy effort around the post.

At the other end, Emma Doherty had a glimpse of goal, but Athlone recovered smartly to clear the danger.

Athlone maintained the pressure and McKiernan saved again, but in the 35^th minute the Westmeath side made the breakthrough when Madison Gibson got on to a long ball from Nausica Costantini, and finished well.

Athlone remained in the ascendancy early in the second-half and Jodie Loughrey cleared off the line for the Bit O’Red in the 51^st minute.

The Sligo Rovers players knuckled down to the task and posed a few questions for the Athlone defence with Casey Howe going close to the hour mark, but the ball shaved the outside of the post.

With 17 minutes remaining Roisin Molloy gave Athlone a 2-0 advantage when she found the net from over 30 metres and soon after Gillian Keenan made it 3-0 for Athlone.

The hosts kept battling and Casey Howe found the back of the Athlone net with a fine long-range effort in the 83^rd minute. Then, Kerri Loughrey tested the quality of the woodwork close to full-time as the Bit O’Red went in search of a second goal, but Athlone prevailed.

Sligo Rovers – Bonnie McKiernan; Katie Nugent, Keela Scanlon, Amy Roddy, Leah Kelly, Emma Hansberry, Lauren Boles, Casey Howe, Fiona Doherty, Jodie Loughrey, Emma Doherty. 

Subs – Keri Loughrey for F Doherty 70 mins, Sarah Kiernan for Nugent 71m, Aoife Brennan for Boles and Ciara Henry for J Loughrey 86m

Athlone Town – Nyla Peterkin; Nausica Costantini, Kayleigh Shine, Chloe Singleton, Kellie Brennan, Laurie Ryan, Scarlett Herron, Roisin Molloy, Lucy Jayne Grant, Madison Gibson, Julia Weithofer. 

Sub – Dana Scheriff for Grant 54 mins.

The quest for a first point of the Women’s Premier Division season continues for Sligo Rovers as they welcome Athlone Town to the Showgrounds on Saturday evening, 5pm, writes Conall Collier.

Fifth-placed Athlone Town will go into the encounter some eight points adrift of leaders Peamount Utd, but with a game in hand, and they will be aiming to add another three points as they bid to close the gap on the top four.

Buoyed by a 2-0 victory against Cork City last weekend, they will adopt a confident approach and will be keen to get another victory.

Last week they managed a fourth minute lead goal from Chloe Singleton, but they had to wait until the 80^th minute before Dana Scheriff wrapped up the three points with a second goal although Gillian Keenan and Madison Gibson also had chances.

The Westmeath side will certainly pose some serious questions for the Bit O’Red this weekend.

However, looking for positives after six successive defeats is quite straightforward for manager Steve Feeney after yet another encouraging display at Eamonn Deacy Park despite a narrow (1-2) defeat against Galway Utd last Saturday.

After conceding two goals in the opening six minutes, the Sligo Rovers players displayed remarkable resilience and fortitude to get back into the game.

Galway failed to capitalise on a number of good chances and the Bit O’Red got back into contention in the 57th minute when Emma Doherty headed to the net. 

Substitute Fiona Doherty went close to an equaliser soon after.

Sligo Rovers showed enough improvement last weekend against Galway to suggest that they can also pose problems for Athlone and a repeat performance could be enough to get some points on the board.

Sligo Rovers Academy will have six games this Bank Holiday weekend with each team bar our Under 15’s in action.

On Saturday, our Under 17 Men’s team host Athlone Town at Noon at The Sean Fallon Centre.

The side then travel to Shamrock Rovers on Monday afternoon with a 3pm kick off at Roadstone.

Our Under 14 team host Dundalk at 3pm at The Sean Fallon Centre. The side are unbeaten in their last three games.

Darren Kelly’s Under 17 Womens team take on Athlone Town away from home at 2pm at Athlone Town Stadium. Last time the sides met, Athlone won 2-1 in a tightly contested game.

Sunday sees both our Under 19 teams in action.

Our Under 19 Mens team host Finn Harps at 2pm at The Sean Fallon Centre while our Womens team take on Bohemians in Dublin at the same time.

You can follow all our Academy updates across our Academy social media pages.

Sligo Rovers joined up with Sligo Sport and Recreation Partnership and the East City Walking group on Thursday morning to walk with them as part of their weekly activity.

The group meet at The Riverside Hotel in Sligo each Thursday morning and set off around the area before coming back for a chat and some refreshments.

Players Garry Buckley, Mark Byrne and Karl O’ Sullivan met with the group and joined them for the start of their weekly walk.

Our 50KM Challenge is still ongoing and we wish to thank Sligo Sport & Recreation Partnership for their support of the Fundraiser and to the members of the East City Walking group for welcoming us.

Sligo Rovers make the journey up the N4 to Dublin twice this Bank Holiday weekend with games against Shamrock Rovers on Friday night followed by a Monday afternoon kick off against St. Patrick’s Athletic.

Rovers come into the game on Friday following a 3-1 win over UCD at The Showgrounds last Saturday night with Max Mata’s opening goal added to by a Fabrice Hartmann brace either side of half-time.

Shamrock Rovers defeated St. Patrick’s Athletic 2-0 at Richmond Park on Friday night.

Russell is excited for the weekend ahead:

‘’We’re all excited for the two games this weekend. Shamrock Rovers and St Patricks athletic have shown good form recently so it’ll be a tough test.

‘’However, I know the players are relishing the challenge of going away from home and trying to close the gap on the teams above us.

‘’We had a good performance last weekend. It was important to pick up the three points in what is such a tight and competitive league.

‘’There will be a lot of twists and turns over the next few weeks but it’s important that we concentrate on ourselves and what we’re trying to do on the pitch.

‘’I have such believe in this group of players and staff. If we continue to work hard and set high standards we will get our rewards over the course of the year’’.

Sligo Rovers supporters wishing to travel to Dublin on Friday night should buy their tickets online in advance of travelling. A large support is expected once again to follow the team following our previous games in Dundalk and Shelbourne which saw over away 700 supporters in attendance across both games.

Rovers boss Russell is asking for all those who can, to come and get behind the team:

‘’Our travelling support has been fantastic so far this season. The players have responded well to the backing and they are all eager to put in top performances over the long weekend’’.

In team news, Garry Buckley, Karl O’ Sullivan, Mark Byrne and Gary Boylan are all ruled out.

Bogdan Vastsuk and Eanna Clancy are back in training and could feature in the squads over the weekend as well as John Mahon who missed the game against UCD with an ankle knock picked up in training but is near an immediate return.

The game kicks off at Tallaght Stadium at 8pm.

With two trips to Dublin in just three days, we understand the difficulty for supporters in travelling to get behind the team in person.

If you can’t make them, both are Live on LOI TV and Ocean FM so you can follow every minute with us.

Away tickets: https://www.shamrockrovers.ie/away-fans-tickets/

Our Academy had four games over the weekend between Saturday and Sunday.

First up was our Under 17 Womens team who hosted Treaty United at The Sean Fallon Centre on Saturday afternoon.

An entertaining game ended up with Rovers coming out on top, 3-1 the final score thanks to goals from Amy Murphy, Emma Walsh and Anna McDaniel.

Later that day our Under 14 side took on Finn Harps in Letterkenny.

Colm Jinks’ side took the lead through Matteo Seccondino’s second goal of the season but the hosts levelled late on to ensure the points were shared.

On Sunday both our Under 19 teams were in action with our Womens team hosting Shamrock Rovers at 1pm at The Sean Fallon Centre, with the Dubliners winning 2-0.

Our Mens team beat Athlone Town 2-1 away from home thanks to goals from Niall Holohan and Rasheed Yeboah.

Our Under 17 Men’s game against Shamrock Rovers was postponed following the death Oran Gethins, brother of our Academy player Zach.

We extend our deepest sympathies to Zach and the rest of his family.

We wish to thank Shamrock Rovers and the FAI for their understanding of the situation.