Sligo Rovers return to Women’s National League action on Sunday with what will be viewed as a must-win game at the Showgrounds against Treaty Utd.

 Still without a win this season after 23 outings, Treaty Utd will tackle a Sligo Rovers side that they should have beaten when the Bit O’Red travelled to the Market’s Field last May.

 On that occasion the Munster women created lots of good chances, but were denied by a combination of solid defensive play, good goalkeeping by Amy Mahon and the woodwork.

The game ended in a scoreless draw and was a first point of the season for Don O’Riordan’s side, but they haven’t managed to add to that tally in the intervening period.

 With no WNL action last weekend due to the FAI Cup semi-finals, Treaty Utd had a break, but ttwo weeks ago made the trip to Ferrycarrig Park to tackle leaders and title-chasing Wexford.

 The hosts recorded a 3-0 victory with all the goals arriving in the first-half and while there was no surprise about tthe final outcome, Treaty produced a spirited second-half display and will look at this encounter on Sunday as one in which they can achieve that crucial first win of the season.

For Sligo Rovers, it’s a different scenario and one that’s not lost on manager Steve Feeney as there will be expectations of a first win for his team since they shocked Shelbourne with a 3-2 win at the end of July.

“We were good in the first-half against Peamount in the last game, but we faded in the second-half and we will have to raise our performance now for the visit of Treaty Utd,” commented Feeney.

“It will be interesting to see how we handle that fact that we will be expected to win against Treaty, usually we are going out looking for a good performance and the possibility of picking up points.

“On Sunday, we will be expected to win, there’s no point in trying to dress it up any other way, Treaty will be the underdogs, but we know that they gave us a good game the last day and they could have won.

“Both teams will be of the opinion that they can win this one, that should make for a good spectacle for the supporters.

“We showed against Peamount the last day that we can compete, but we only did it for 45 minutes really, that’s probably the challenge for us, to be competitive for 90 minutes.

“We know we can do it, we just have to make sure we do it on Sunday as Cork City are four points behind us and will be targeting eighth position, it’s up to ourselves to make sure they don’t catch us,” he added.

We host Shamrock Rovers tonight at 7.45pm at The Showgrounds as we return to action following the International Window.

We outline all our Match Night information below, where we ask supporters for their assistance and co-operation.

Turnstiles:

Turnstiles open from 6.30pm. You should have your Season Tickets or Match Tickets to hand and ready when arriving to make it a smoother process for our scanners.

Away tickets are sold out and there is strictly no admission without a valid ticket.

Any fans with duplicate tickets will be turned away by our Security and Gardai.

Seating:

Seating is first come, first served in all areas of the ground. Seats with names on them must be respected as these are Gold Season Ticket members who have paid for their seat to be reserved all season. Anyone found sitting in a seat that is not theirs will be asked to move.

Security:

Members of our security team will carry out on the spot checks on bags and persons entering the ground. Alcohol and Pyrotechnics are not allowed and will be confiscated on entry. We ask supporters to please help the club in this regard and refrain from attempting to get in with any prohibited items.

CCTV:

CCTV is again in operation throughout the evening using our Brand New state of the art CCTV system. Security personnel and An Garda Siochaina will be monitoring the system and anyone found to be behaving in a way which contravenes our ground rules will be removed and potentially banned from attending future games.

Car Parking:

There are limited spaces available at The Showgrounds astro turf car park. This will be closed once full, which is expected to be early in the evening. Supporters should note the club have come to an agreement with Nazareth House for official Match Night use of their grounds which has over 200 parking spaces. There is a charge of €2, with proceeds towards the upkeep of their grounds.

Pitch:

It is an offence to enter the field of play at any stage. This includes children. It is parent/guardian’s responsibility to ensure children do not encroach on the pitch at any time.

Rubbish:

Please use the bins provided around the ground. Volunteers help clean the ground after the match and your assistance with this would be massively helpful.

We wish to thank all supporters for their support and we thank you for your co-operation

Sligo Rovers host Shamrock Rovers tomorrow night (Saturday) at The Showgrounds in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division.

The game will be our first in over two weeks after defeat to Derry City at The Brandywell on September 13^th.

Shamrock Rovers have played four games in that period, losing to Gent in the Europa Conference League and to Derry City in The FAI Cup three days later before a 0-0 draw with Shelbourne and an important win over UCD at Tallaght Stadium on Monday last, both in the League.

Rovers are in fifth position in the table with six games remaining while the visitors sit on top of the league, five points ahead of Derry City.

The Bit O’ Red had two players away on International duty over the International Window with Nando Pijnaker playing for New Zealand in two friendly games against Australia in Brisbane and Auckland.

Luke McNicholas returned to the club early from representing Ireland Under 21’s after picking up an ankle injury in training. The injury will see McNicholas ruled out for the remainder of the season. This will see either Richard Brush or Conor Walsh brought into the team in his place, with Brush having made three appearances so far in 2022, helping Rovers to two wins in those three games.

Manager John Russell looks forward to the game:

‘’We’re all looking forward to getting back out in front of our home fans tomorrow night.

‘’We know Shamrock Rovers will be a tough test. They sit on top of the table for a reason  but our players are ready for the challenge ahead.

‘’With only three home games remaining we’re expecting a big crowd and hopefully the players can put on a top performance’’.

In team news, Luke McNicholas and Garry Buckley are out through injury. Buckley had surgery on an ACL in the past few days and now begins his road to recovery. Mark Byrne is also ruled out long term. Scans have shown damage to his ACL following what was thought as a minor knock picked up in training.

Seamas Keogh returned in a friendly against Galway United last Friday and will be part of the squad this weekend. Greg Bolger limped off in the game but is expected to be fit to play against his former club.

The club’s Annual Draw for 2022 will take place at half-time. There is €5000 to be won in our draw and tickets will be available on the night or also online until 6pm tomorrow via the following link:

https://srfcdirect.com/annual-draw-ticket/

There are just two academy games taking place this weekend and both games are at The Sean Fallon Centre.

Tomorrow, our Under 14 team host Finn Harps at 1pm.

On Sunday, our Under 19 Men’s team host Dundalk in the League at 2pm.

Both games are free to watch and all support is appreciated.

Sligo Rovers Annual Draw is now just 2 days away and we can confirm a total of €71,000 has been raised so far as the community gets behind our draw once again as they do every year.

The top prize of €5,000 is just one of a number of special prizes up for grabs this year when the draw takes place on October 1^st at our home game with Shamrock Rovers at The Showgrounds.

We have a €1,000 PetStop voucher with thanks to John McKeon and his team. There are two separate hotel stays up for grabs at both Clayton Hotel, Liffey Valley and the 5 Star Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin City.

Music fans will be delighted to see four Westlife tickets for their Wild Dreams tour in Belfast in December available as well as 2 Rod Stewart tickets for Dublin in November.

There is a trip to Anfield to see Liverpool at a home game also there to be won not to mention €200 Kate’s Kitchen and Intersport Elverys vouchers (2 x €100).

With just 2 days left until the draw, we encourage supporters who have not entered to do so now to be in with a chance of winning. We also ask people selling books on our behalf to begin to get their books back to the club in a timely manner before the draw. The Showgrounds office is open from 9am to 2pm for the rest of the week.

All proceeds from this year’s draw will go directly towards our Stadium development plans for The Showgrounds with the club continuously working on our Masterplan which will see The Showgrounds transformed into a modern sporting venue for the North-West region.

Our record tally for our Annual Draw was back in 2019 when the club raised an amazing €78,340 profit from the draw.

We are hoping to smash this record this year and with just 48 hours remaining, it will take a big push and a lot of effort in order to reach our goal.

Buy online:

One ticket: https://srfcdirect.com/annual-draw-ticket-2022/

One book of tickets:  https://srfcdirect.com/annual-draw-book-of-ten-2022/

The draw takes place at half time on Saturday at the Shamrock Rovers match.

We have two home fixtures this weekend as both our Men and Women’s Senior teams are in The Showgrounds on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday evening, our Men’s team host Shamrock Rovers at 7.45pm.

Match Sponsors are Nathaniel Lacy Solicitors and Match Ball sponsors are both Sligo Driver Training and Milligram.

On Sunday, our Womens team host Treaty United at 2pm, 24 hours later than usual due to the Men’s fixture on Saturday.

Match sponsors are our friends from Overstock who also sponsor our Under 19 Womens team this season.

Gates open at 6.30pm Saturday and 1pm Sunday and we encourage all supporters to get in and support the teams.

Bit O’ Red goalkeeper Luke McNicholas has sustained an ankle injury which will see him sidelined for the remainder of the 2022 SSE Airtricity League season.

McNicholas picked up the injury whilst training with The Republic if Ireland Under 21 squad ahead of their European play-off with Israel.

McNicholas will now return to the club to begin his rehabilitation and is confident that he will be fit to return as normal for pre-season training in December ahead of the 2023 season.

Sligo Rovers Annual Draw is now just 1 week away and we can confirm a total of €57,000 has been raised so far as we head into the final few days of sales.

The top prize of €5,000 is just one of a number of special prizes up for grabs this year when the draw takes place on October 1^st at our home game with Shamrock Rovers at The Showgrounds.

We have a €1,000 PetStop voucher with thanks to John McKeon and his team. There are two separate hotel stays up for grabs at both Clayton Hotel, Liffey Valley and the 5 Star Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin City.

Music fans will be taken care of with Westlife and Rod Stewart tickets available for their upcoming tours in Belfast and Dublin respectively.

There is a trip to Anfield to see Liverpool at a home game also there to be won not to mention €200 Kate’s Kitchen and Intersport Elverys vouchers (2 x €100).

With just 1 week left until the draw, we encourage supporters who have not entered to do so now to be in with a chance of winning. We also encourage people selling books on our behalf to begin to get their books back to the club in a timely manner before the draw.

All proceeds from this year’s draw will go directly towards our Stadium development plans for The Showgrounds with the club continuously working on our Masterplan which will see The Showgrounds transformed into a modern sporting venue for the North-West region.

Our record tally for our Annual Draw was back in 2019 when the club raised an amazing €78,340 profit from the draw.

We are hoping to smash this record in 2022 and with 1 week remaining it will take a big push and a lot of effort in order to reach our goal.

The easiest way to enter is online:

Buy online:

One ticket: https://srfcdirect.com/annual-draw-ticket-2022/

One book of tickets:  https://srfcdirect.com/annual-draw-book-of-ten-2022/

We thank all our sellers this year who have been selling tickets throughout the region for the past number of weeks.

All six Sligo Rovers Academy teams are in action this weekend, which started last night in Galway as our Under 15 side were beaten 3-0 in Maree.

This afternoon (Saturday), our Under 14 team take on St Patrick’s Athletic at Blanchardstown at 3pm in the Under 14 League.

At The Sean Fallon Centre, our Under 17 Men’s team host Drogheda United at 1pm. Admission to the game is free of charge.

Our Under 17 Women’s team take on neighbours Donegal Ladies in Letterkenny at 4.30pm.

Tomorrow, Sunday sees both Under 19 teams on the road for league games.

At 12.30pm our Women’s side take on Athlone Town away from home at Athlone Town Stadium.

At Roadstone in Dublin our Men’s side take on Shamrock Rovers at 3pm.

Good luck to all players and staff again this weekend.

Sponsors:

Under 19 Men’s: EJ Menswear

Under 19 Women’s: Overstock

Under 17 Men’s: Ivor Parke

Under 17 Women’s: Avenue Mould Solutions, Sligo

Under 15: O’ Connor Cabins

Under 14: Alzheimer’s Society, Sligo (on behalf of The Gallagher Family)

Under 19 Womens player Alice Lillie has received a call up to Republic of Ireland Under 17 Womens squad for two upcoming International friendlies with Portugal away from home.

The games will take place on September 29th and October 2nd respectively.

Lillie was part of our Under 17 squad in 2020 before progressing to Under 19 and senior level this year.

Congrats Alice.