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Coughlan penalty and McGinty heroics keep European chances alive

Sligo Rovers triumphed 2-1 against a youthful Cork City side who gave a better performance than their condemnation to the First Division illustrated on Saturday night. Two penalties proved crucial to the result, with the first coming after only 7 minutes.

Rovers lined up with a more attacking shape than the defeat at Tolka Park last week, with Regan Donelon, Garry Buckley, and Will Seymore replacing Teemu Penninkangas, Sigitas Olberkis and David Cawley, the latter two of which join our lengthy injury list.

Cork City sat at the foot of the table before this game, with the two teams having the 2nd and worst form in the league and needed a win to have a chance of staying up if results went their way (spoiler alert; they didn’t). Their ferocity surprised the Bit O’Red early doors; with their ability to create chances leading to a penalty after Alec Byrne’s shot hit off John Mahon’s outstretched arm. Kit Elliot’s resulting spot-kick was saved with aplomb by McGinty, diving low to his right to put the ball out of play. A couple of minutes later and the Rovers hit the front, with McGinty again proving pivotal. His long ball forward caused disarray in the Rebel Army ranks and allowed Junior to pounce, outpacing Ochieng and poking past the onrushing Bossin. Rover’s superiority showed throughout the rest of the half, with Devers, Coughlan, and Junior all having efforts but couldn’t find the net before the half-time whistle.

Ryan De Vries wasn’t 100% to play 90 minutes and was taken off for Darragh Noone at half-time. Cork found control of the game in the second half and had chances to threaten McGinty through O’Brien-Whitmarsh, but the equaliser came through the substitute Dylan McGlade, when his low drive from a wide free-kick evaded everyone in the box before nestling in the bottom corner. This dominance continued with Cian Coleman coming close (any English teacher would be proud of that alliteration) from a cross-shot soon after McGlade’s effort. After this however, the game opened up and both sides traded chances until chaos ensued in the Leesider’s box after a dangerous corner fell to Junior who was fouled by Bossin, and Rob Hennessy pointed to the spot accordingly. It was Ronan Coughlan’s duty to convert, and convert he did, tricking Bossin with a Jorginho-esque technique (our man created it, Jorginho just publicised it). Donelon was then swapped for Cooper to provide some impetus and energy on the left flank. The Bit O’Red were then able to see out the game comfortably and, with the aid of Finn Harps, condemn Cork City to relegation.

Teams

SLIGO ROVERS: E McGinty; L Banks, J Mahon, G Buckley, R Donelon (A Cooper 76), W Seymore, N Morahan, J Devers, R Coughlan, R De Vries (D Noone 45), J Ogedi-Uzokwe.

CORK CITY: L Bossin; H Ochieng, J Olowu, J O’Brien, K O’Connor; R Hurley (C Bargary 45), G Morrissey, C Coleman, A Byrne (D McGlade 60), B O’Brien-Whitmarsh (C Murphy 80), K Elliot.Ref: R Hennessy

Rovers Ratings

Ed McGinty: 8 – A penalty save and an assist. Would’ve had the trifecta but McGlade had other ideas.

Lewis Banks: 6 – Did good in defence.

Garry Buckley: 6 – A solid display at centre-half.

John Mahon: 6 – Did well for the second game running.

Regan Donelon: 5 – Didn’t operate with as much fervour as we’re used to. Replaced by Cooper with 15 minutes left.

Jesse Devers: 6 – Put in some teasing crosses and came close to scoring in the first half.

Will Seymore: 6 – Played good, kept it tight ahead of the defence.

Niall Morahan: 7 – So good at moving the ball forward. Always there between the lines.

Ryan De Vries: 6 – Obviously wasn’t at full fitness aand was taken off at half-time.

Ronan Coughlan: 7 – Won the game with the penalty technique he invented.

Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe: 7 – Did well to get the first goal, hopefully he can kick on from here.

Alex Cooper: 6 – Did good apart from an arguable foul throw late on.

Darragh Noone: 5 – Didn’t get a lot of the ball.

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Rovers slump to defeat against 10-man Shelbourne

Sligo Rovers fell to a 1-0 defeat against a dogged Shelbourne side on Sunday who received a red card due to Luke Byrne’s late challenge after 68 minutes. This loss leaves Rovers 7th, now level on points with Shelbourne and St.Pats, however the latter have two games in hand.

Liam Buckley made 4 personnel changes and wholesale tactical changes from our last game against Shamrock Rovers, with Sigitas Olberkis, Lewis Banks, David Cawley and John Mahon (who returned to action for the first time in 8 months) replacing Darragh Noone, Kyle Callan-McFaddan, Will Seymore, and Garry Buckley respectively.

Shelbourne sat in 8th before Sunday’s clash and any points they could pick up would be crucial. This hunger to get a result showed early on as they were energetic throughout the pitch and took the lead near the 20th minute when Penninkangas’ pocket was picked before an excellent bit of play from Dayle Rooney to dummy for his captain Gary Deegan to rifle in off the crossbar. Shelbourne could’ve doubled their lead on the half-hour mark, when This awoke the Bit O’Red, who had a good chance before the half was out through Ronan Coughlan, when he hit just over from Devers’ cross.

Buckley’s side started well in the second half, with De Vries engineering time and space to create a shot from 20 yards which was ultimately blocked. We lacked any bite or momentum throughout the game, Buckley attempted to rectify this by sending on Cooper and Noone for Olberkis and De Vries, but nothing unfolded until the 68th minute, when Luke Byrne went in late on Junior and received a straight red card for his troubles. Despite this, we were unable to really harm Shelbourne’s solid defense. Buckley then sent on Will Seymore and Mark Byrne for Morahan and Devers but nothing came out of it.

Teams

SLIGO ROVERS:  E McGinty; S Olberkis (A Cooper 60),  J Mahon, T Penninkangas, L Banks; D Cawley, N Morahan (W Seymore 78);  J Devers (M Byrne 78), R Coughlan, R De Vries (D Noone 60), J Ogedi-Uzokwe.

SHELBOURNE:  J Brady; G Poynton (D O’Reilly 19), O Brennan, L Byrne, A O’Hanlon; D Fernandes (D Byrne 72), G Deegan, M Byrne, R Brennan (S Quinn 85); D Rooney; C Kilduff (A Dobbs 85).

Ref: R Matthews

Rovers Ratings

Ed McGinty: 6 – Played well. Couldn’t have stopped the goal.

Sigitas Olberkis: 5 – Didn’t get forward enough. Replaced on the hour for Banks.

Teemu Penninkangas: 5 – Didn’t stand out on the pitch.

John Mahon: 6 – Great to see him back on the pitch. Settled in very quickly.

Lewis Banks: 5 – Lost his head near the end of the game.

Jesse Devers: 5 – Crossing was decent but didn’t offer much else.

David Cawley: 5 – Didn’t get on the ball too often.

Niall Morahan: 6 – Was very pleasing to watch.

Ryan De Vries: 5 – Ineffective on the left.

Ronan Coughlan: 5 – Came close on a couple of occasions but couldn’t hit the target.

Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe: 5 – Was unable to threaten Shams the way he could against Derry.

Alex Cooper: 6 – Offered attacking prowess down the left.

Darragh Noone: 5 – Couldn’t do much with the time he had.

Will Seymore: N/A – Was brought on late in the match.

Mark Byrne: N/A – Didn’t get enough time to warrant a rating.

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A trouncing in Tallaght

Copyright: Peter Fitzpatrick 2020 IrelandSports

Sligo Rovers slumped to a 4-0 defeat against Shamrock Rovers on Friday as the league leaders consolidated their stranglehold on the summit of the table. The result leaves us 4th on 17 points.

Liam Buckley made 1 change from the win against Derry, with Kyle Callan-McFadden returning to the squad after an illness. David Cawley returned from suspension to start on the bench.

Shamrock Rovers, the runaway league leaders, needed only 8 points from 6 games to win the title before Friday’s clash, and their quality shone through every aspect of the match. The start of the game was a cagey and tight affair with both teams finding out the other, but the breakthrough occurred after 13 minutes when Aaron Greene found Ronan Finn on the edge of the box in acres of space to flick and volley through McGinty’s barrier, not the start the academy product called up to the Irish U21 squad will have wanted. The reaction from the Bit O’Red was positive however, getting some territory and possession in our favour but ultimately not testing Alan Mannus in the Shams goal at all. After this short spell, Shams regained their control on the match and we conceded again in the 39th minute, with Jack Byrne – who has been picked by Stephen Kenny for his Ireland squad for the crunch qualifier against Slovakia – weighted an inch-perfect pass to Graham Burke for him to slot past the helpless McGinty.

Buckley’s team talk must have been a good one as the teams came flying out of the blocks in the second half but didn’t have the shots on target to show for it. The third goal arrived when a neat passing move was finished off when Byrne was able to squeeze the ball into the corner from the left-hand side. Liam Buckley then brought on Cooper and Banks for De Vries and Devers in an attempt to salvage the game – with Cooper attempting to cut inside from the right wing often – but the rout was completed with 12 minutes to go when Dylan Watts – who came on for Byrne – scored from a cutback by Rhys Marshall, another substitute. Garry Buckley pulled up with an injury and was replaced by David Cawley in the buildup for the goal. Cooper then shifted to left-back and Penninkangas to centre-half to see out the game as a result of Buckley’s injury.

Teams

SLIGO ROVERS: E McGinty; D Noone, G Buckley (D Cawley 81), K Callan-McFadden, T Penninkangas, W Seymore, N Morahan; J Ogedi-Uzokwe, R De Vries (A Cooper 64), J Devers (L Banks 64), R Coughlan

SHAMROCK ROVERS: A Mannus; L Scales, L Grace, J O’Brien (S Kavanagh 75), R Finn (R Marshall 77), N Farrugia (D Lafferty 79), A McEneff, G O’Neill, J Byrne (D Watts 74), G Burke, A Greene (D Williams 79)

Ref: D MacGraith

Rovers Ratings

Ed McGinty: 6 – Made some great stops in the second half but I can’t give him higher than a 6 due to his unfortunate error for the first goal.

Darragh Noone: 4 – Was bullied by Farrugia on the right.

Garry Buckley: 5 – Wasn’t great. Came off injured after the 4th goal, and we wish him well in his recovery.

Kyle Callan-McFadden: 5 – Didn’t set the world alight today.

T Penninkangas: 5 – Didn’t get forward enough, although that was probably planned considering Shams’ pace up top.

Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe: 5 – Was decent in the first half. Had some success on the left side.

Will Seymore: 5 – Bypassed too easily in midfield.

Niall Morahan: 5 – Couldn’t do much against the quality of Shams’ midfield.

Jesse Devers: 5 – Same story as against Derry, attacks came through him in the first half, but his performance deteriorated in the second.

Ronan Coughlan: 5 – Had a shocking first half but improved in the second.

Ryan De Vries: 5 – Was unable to threaten Shams the way he could against Derry.

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Rovers 1-0 Derry

Alluring cross to Ryan De Vries who headed in …

Photo by @jfallonphotography

Sligo Rovers left it late (oh so very late) to ensure victory against a dogged Derry City on Tuesday when substitute Alex Cooper swung in an alluring cross to Ryan De Vries who headed in after panic in the Derry backline. The 100 fans (described by the WatchLOI commentator as “the most passionate support in the league”) allowed into the Showgrounds were treated to a tense finale after Walter Figueira somehow hit the post with 12 minutes left.

Rovers were without the suspended David Cawley and Liam Buckley decided to shuffle the pack accordingly, with four changes being made; Darragh Noone dropping to right-back replacing Lewis Banks, Will Seymore for the aforementioned Cawley who also took the captain’s armband from him, Teemu Penninkangas in for Kyle Callan Mc-Faddan who’s been struck with an illness, and Alex Cooper made way for Jesse Devers.

Derry came to the Showgrounds with fervour after what looked a certain win in Dalymount Park was somehow wrenched from their grip with 2 goals in the six minutes of additional time. It showed in their play early on – with the wind in their favour – they were able to dominate possession for the first ten minutes, with their best chance in this period being an inswinging corner which beat everyone in red and white, including Ed McGinty, but unfortunately for Derry City it beat everyone in black too. It was clear to see from the pressing intensity and speed in transition that Buckley wanted a huge improvement from the Waterford game, and he was beginning to receive that improvement. Our captain on the night, Will Seymore, was able to find plenty of space in front of the two centre backs of Penninkangas and Buckley to switch the play well to Devers and Noone on the right hand side. This culminated with a soft penalty shout 29 minutes in when Coughlan was “pushed” to the ground reaching for a header, with Devers’  followup deflected over the bar. De Vries was able to control the game in the number 10 role from then until time, with a series of Hollywood passes out to Devers on the right which would lead to half-chances with Devers’ crosses.

After half time, Rovers ascertained the upper hand, forcing Derry back now that the wind was in the Bit O’Red’s favour. Even still, the game was evenly poised and either side could’ve walked away with the 3 points. This was quantified when a threatening cross from Ibrahim Meite was met by Walter Figueira, who hit the post from 6 yards out after 78. This was the wake up call our lads needed, as the players were starting to lose focus, which led to Liam Buckley taking off Devers and Donelon for Banks and Cooper respectively. And it was Cooper who ended up playing the perfect cross – which took out every single Derry defender – to the onrushing Ryan De Vries to head into the net from 6 yards out. Derry were too demoralised after this late finish to mount any real challenge on Ed McGinty’s goal in the 4 minutes added time.

Teams

ROVERS: E McGinty; D Noone, G Buckley, T Penninkangas, R Donelon (A Cooper, 80); W Seymore, N Morahan; J Ogedi-Uzokwe, R De Vries, J Devers (L Banks, 84); R Coughlan

DERRY CITY: P Cherrie; C Coll, J McJannet, E Toal, D Cole; J Dunwoody (C Harkin, 84), C McCormack; A Hammill, J Malone (Mallon, 60), W Figueira; J Akintunde (I Miete, 73)

Ref: Neil Doyle

Rovers Ratings

Ed McGinty: 6 – Didn’t have a lot to do, kept it tight and distributed well.

Darragh Noone: 6 – Overlapped Devers well before Banks came on to reinforce.

Garry Buckley: 8 – Did magnificently, was impenetrable at the back.

Teemu Penninkangas: 8 – Was towering as always in the air.

Regan Donelon: 6 – Corner delivery was decent. Taken off for Cooper after 80 minutes.

Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe: 7 – His linkup with Coughlan was incredible, the two are telepathic.

Will Seymore: 7 – Switched the ball excellently in the first half but was mediocre in the second, had a slip on the ball which led to a Derry chance.

Niall Morahan: 7 – Shuttled the ball brilliantly between the midfield lines

Jesse Devers: 7 – The Mayo man was our prime creator in the first half, but couldn’t get involved in the second. Taken off for Banks after 84 minutes to push Noone up further.

Ronan Coughlan: 7 – Got into space well despite being tightly marked. As mentioned before, great linkup with Junior.

Ryan De Vries: 9 – He was the antithesis of his Waterford performance, always looking for the ball and playing some Rolls-Royce stuff at times. To net the match-winner was the icing on the cake.

Alex Cooper: 7 – Played a  sumptuous cross for De Vries’ winner.

Lewis Banks: 6  – Reinforced the back when he came on.

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Waterford 1-0 Sligo Rovers

Rasper of a volley from 25 yards

Report by Jack Duignan. Jack is a secondary school student in Coola’

Match Report

Matthew Smith’s wonder strike on 9 minutes was enough for Waterford to take the three points against Rovers on Friday, despite Alex Cooper rounding Waterford keeper Brian Murphy but failing to execute his cutback. The result bolsters Waterford up to 3rd, and in a prime position to qualify for Europe next season. The loss leaves Rovers 6th, level on points with St. Pats and with work to do to steal a European place with 5 games left in the season.

Waterford had plenty of outgoings earlier in the week, with their previous manager John Sheridan departing for our very own Paul Cook’s Wigan side. Fran Rockett took over on Thursday and will remain until the end of the season at the least.

Onto the game anyway, the start was even until a penalty shout early on when Alex Cooper unleashed a strike which appeared to strike an arm when it was blocked but the muted appeals from the Rovers bench were quickly waved away by Sean Grant. Waterford switched on from there and hit the front spectacularly after 9 minutes. A long ball forward from Robbie Weir split Rovers’ centre backs and caused panic in the back, leaving Matthew Smith unmarked to execute a rasper of a volley from 25 yards which soared past the helpless Ed McGinty on its way to the top corner. That was just the start they needed after their previous 6-1 loss to Shams in Tallaght on Monday. After that, the game fell into a slow tempo until the 23rd minute, when Cooper picked Tunmise Sobowale’s pocket and steamed towards goal – rounding Brian Murphy in sticks – but the cavalry couldn’t arrive in time for our number 8 and his cutback was intercepted. After this altercation, Rovers had the upper hand in possession, with David Cawley having a cross-shot saved at the cusp of half time.

Half time then came and went, with Rovers out from the team talk first, laying the challenge for the Waterford players. And a challenge it was, with Coughlan stinging Murphy’s gloved palms withinr 20 seconds of the half starting. It was clear that the momentum wasn’t going anywhere for the time being, with Cooper hitting straight at Murphy after some good buildup after 48 minutes. Waterford then threatened to hit us on the break but some excellent sweeping from Ed McGinty (whose job was made harder due to the brutal sun) denied the onrushing Fitzgerald. David Cawley’s shirt was manhandled by the Waterford midfielders and suffered a tear, our longstanding number 22 with a temporary change to 33 to see out the game in. It was around then that Waterford began to wrest control of the game, with Kyle Callan-McFadden with a huge sliding tackle inside the area on 64 minutes. Liam Buckley then hooked Alex Cooper and Ryan De Vries for Ronan Murray and Jesse Devers respectively with 20 minutes left. A minute later, Junior went for an audacious overhead kick from a tantalising cross but was unable to connect. Jesse Devers then had a chance with a cutback but it couldn’t reach anyone. From then, it became attack versus defence as Waterford continued to drop deeper and deeper. Unfortunately for us, we couldn’t find a way to pierce Waterford’s low block. Darragh Noone came on after 84 minutes for Junior, but he didn’t have time to influence the game in any significant manner. Ultimately, we lacked pace in transition to really threaten Waterford.

Teams

ROVERS: E McGinty; L Banks, G Buckley, K McFadden, R Donelon; D Cawley, N Morahan; J Ogedi-Uzokwe (D Noone 84), R De Vries (J Devers 70), A Cooper (R Murray 70); R Coughlan

WATERFORD: B Murphy; T Sobowale, J Davidson, R McCourt, T Wilson; R Weir, N O’Keefe (S Griffin 74); W Fitzgerald (W Longbottom 83), J Martin (K Byrne 72), A Coote; M Smith..

Ref: Sean Grant

Rovers Ratings

Ed McGinty: 6 – Distribution and sweeping was good. Nothing he could’ve done for goal.

Lewis Banks: 5 – Didn’t offer enough going forward on the overlap.

Garry Buckley: 6 – Lost Smith for goal but a solid performance otherwise.

Kyle Callan-McFadden: 6 – Led well from the back.

Regan Donelon: 7 – Operated well with Cooper down the left.

Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe: 6 – Didn’t get the ball enough to make a huge difference. Taken off after 84 minutes.

David Cawley: 8 – A good performance from our midfield dynamo. Was everywhere on the pitch, nearly getting a goal/assist before half time.

Niall Morahan: 6 – Wasn’t progressive enough to hit Waterford where we needed to hit them.

Alex Cooper: 7 – The left side was a happy hunting ground for both Cooper and Donelon. Cooper nearly got a goal after 23 minutes after Sobowale’s slip. Deserved a rest after 70 hard minutes.

Ronan Coughlan: 6 – Was isolated up top at times. Tested Murphy well at the start of the second half.

Ryan De Vries: 5 – Didn’t show for the ball, and when he did, was unable to hurt Waterford. He’ll be disappointed with his performance. Subbed after 70 minutes.

Jesse Devers: 6 – Did well when he came on, combining well on the left side.

Ronan Murray: 6 – Was hungry for the ball and performed well.

Darragh Noone: N/A – Didn’t get enough time to make an impact.