Now into his second season with Sligo Rovers after signing from Doncaster Rovers last season, defender Shane Blaney is enjoying the current campaign having shaken off his injury woes from last year to become a regular in the first team:

“I am loving it and it is all going very well for me at the moment. The past few weeks, indeed the past couple of months have been great. Last season was tough with the injury I picked up ruling me out of actions for a few weeks halfway through the season. I had a Lisfranc fracture in my foot and it was hard coming back from that so that was a rough patch. But this season I was prepared better for it and was looking forward to getting going.”

Blaney played a key role in the Europa Conference League Qualifiers against Bala Town and Motherwell, part of the team that earned a crucial 1-0 win away from home in the First Leg before scoring a sublime free kick in the Second Leg at home to give Rovers an early lead on the night before winning the game 2-0.

“Yeah look we knew that we should have given a better account of ourselves in the FH games last season. So going into this season’s ones we had a chip on our shoulder. We shouldn’t have come away from both of those games against FH with two losses and wanted to have a better run this season and we have had that.”

One of Rovers great success stories has been the advancement of players through the club’s underage sides as the club continues to develop its academy. This has proved to be a mixed blessing as before the season Johnny Kenny signed for Celtic and John Mahon for St. Johnstone and recently Ed McGinty signed for Oxford United. Blaney feels that this is the new normal for clubs in the League with teams in England Scotland realising how talented the players here are:

“Aye, yeah it is tough but that is just the game that we are in at the moment. We’re not unique, a lot of the other teams in the league are in the same position in losing their better young players to teams from England and Scotland and European ones. Those leagues have realised there are some really talented players in the League here and that they can get them at good prices. As a player it is great for the rest of us and makes it really exciting going forward. As a team in the League you have to deal with it and it is part of life now and every team seems to be losing a fair few players. If you look at Ed, what an incredible keeper and what a way to sign off his time with us after the penalty shoot-out against Bala. We are all in the same boat when it comes to him in that he is a top, top, top keeper and he will go further than the level he has gone to.”

Blaney has made 24 appearances so far this season and may make his 25^th in a North-West Derby against his former club Finn Harps on Friday night in Ballybofey.

By Keith O’ Dwyer

Sligo Rovers are back in action once again tomorrow as we travel to Dublin to take on St Patrick’s Athletic in Inchicore at 5pm.

The game is Rovers’ 11^th fixture in six weeks having gone through a busy European and Domestic run.

Rovers have won two games in a row having defeated Bohemians in the league last Sunday and Viking in The Europa Conference League Third Round Qualifier Second Leg on Thursday evening.

Manager John Russell looks forward to the game:

‘’It is a big game tomorrow evening.

‘’St Pats are a good side and sit just above us in the table so we know we’ll have to be at our best to get a result.

‘’We come into the game in good form. It’s important we build on our recent performances. 

‘’We’re expecting big away support tomorrow. Our fans have been fantastic this year and we hope we can put on a top performance for them’’.

In team news, Garry Buckley is sidelined for a number of months with a serious knee injury. Colm Horgan and Seamas Keogh remain out with long term muscle injuries while Russell will need to assess his squad over the weekend before making a final decision on a number of players who are carrying knocks, including David Cawley and Aidan Keena who missed Thursday’s game.

The game kicks off at 5pm and tickets can be bought on the turnstiles.

The game is live on LOI TV

Sligo Rovers and Bohemian FC renewed rivalry today at The Showgrounds in the Women’s National League just seven days after an absorbing FAI Cup encounter at Dalymount Park that the Dublin women won by 3-1.

This time around Bohemian FC took the spoils with a hard-earned, but well-deserved 2-0 victory with a tremendous duel between Kerri O’Hara for the Bit O’Red and Bohs speedster Abbie Brophy a highlight of the afternoon.

There was hardly a minute on the clock when Bohemian FC hit the front from a well-taken Niamh Prior goal that left the hosts reeling.

Then Lisa Murphy had a shot from distance for Bohs in the 14th minute that skimmed the top of the crossbar much to the relief of Sligo Rovers ‘keeper Amy Mahon.

Bohs continued to press and in the 22nd minute Abbie Brophy was denied by another smart Amy Mahon save.

Mahon was kept busy for the remainder of the half with some respite from the water break, but the Mayo teenager was equal to anything Bohs had to offer with one particularly smart save that denied Chloe Darby in the 35th minute.

Mahon was in action again seconds after the resumption as Bohs continued to press the hosts and Erica Burke also had a good chance, but Sarah Kiernan averted the danger.

Emma Doherty had a half chance for the Bit O’Red on the hour, but she picked up a yellow card for her challenge on Bohs goalkeeper Rachael Kelly in her effort to get on the ball.

Sligo came more into the game after the second water break and Emma Doherty blazed wide in the 81st minute.

At the other end Amy Mahon produced another good save, but from the resultant corner Abbie Brophy pounced on the loose ball and rifled to the net from close range to seal the 2-0 victory in front of an official attendance of 309.

Sligo Rovers – Amy Mahon; Leah Kelly, Emma Hansberry, Orna O’Dowd, Lauren Boles, Emma Doherty,Kerri O’Hara, Paula McGrory, Sarah Kiernan, Jessica Casey, Aife Haran. Subs – Aoife Brennan for Hansberry and Helen Monaghan for Casey both 57 mins, Ciara Henry for Haran 68m,


Bohemian FC – Rachael Kelly, Kate Burdis, Isobal Finnegan, Lisa Murphy, Kira Bates-Crosbie, Erica Burke, Chloe Darby, Abbie Brophy, Rachel Doyle, Katie Lovely, Niamh Prior. Subs – Ann Marie Byrne for Burdis and Erin Phelan for Bates-Crosbie both 73 mins, Aoife Robinson for Prior 77m, Bronagh Kane for Burke 88m.

Referee – Sean Stephens.
Assistant-referees – Richard Storey, Keenan Deering.
Fourth official – Rob Dowling.

Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce that Avenue Mould Solutions are our new Main Sponsors to our Under 17 Women’s team until the end of the 2023 season.

Located in Finisklin, Avenue specialises in the design and manufacture of plastic injection moulds, product development, scientific moulding and contract manufacturing for leading medical device, diagnostic, and pharma OEMs.

Our Under 17 Women’s squad are over half-way through their 2022 season in The National Underage League and took on Cork City away from home today in the first outing of their newly branded kit.

As part of the sponsorship, Avenue will have two pitch-side signs placed at The Showgrounds and Sean Fallon Centre as well as access to players for different promotional purposes throughout the length of the contract.

Avenue General Manager Ricardo Silva:

“Avenue – A Nolato Company are very proud to be a part of our local community. We are extremely happy to secure this new partnership with Sligo Rovers and we look forward to help, inspire and empower young women as they progress through their football career. We’re excited to be involved and look forward to the years ahead.”

Sligo Rovers Head of Academy Conor O’ Grady:

‘’We are extremely grateful to the guys at Avenue who are coming on board to support us with this sponsorship.

‘’The company employ a lot of local people in their base at Finisklin and are showing their support to the community once again with this sponsorship. It’s important for all our Academy teams to have a sponsor and it’s very much appreciated by all the players and staff of the club’’.

We’d like to thank Ricardo, Gerry and everyone at Avenue for their support and we look forward to working with the company in the coming months.

We have five Academy games this weekend between Saturday and Sunday with four teams on the road around the country and just our Under 19 Womens team at home on Sunday afternoon.

Our Under 14’s travel to face Finn Harps at 2pm tomorrow in Donegal.

Our Under 17 Womens team face the long journey south to take on Cork City at 2pm in Mayfield.

On Sunday we have two Under 19 games with our Mens team away to UCD from 3pm and our Under 19 Women at home to Galway at The Sean Fallon Centre at 4.30pm.

Also on Sunday, our Under 15’s face Klub Kildare in Tougher Park at 2.30pm.

There is no Under 17 Mens game this weekend.

#bitored

Sligo Rovers women host Bohemian FC at The Showgrounds on Saturday as the sides clash for the second time in a week, with the visitors winning last weeks Womens FAI Cup game 3-1 in Dublin.

“The first-half last Saturday in the Cup game wasn’t at the level that I know we can produce and Lauren (Boles) got us back into the game early in the second-half,” stated Sligo Rovers manager Steve Feeney.

“We were better in the second-half and grew into the game a bit more and limited Bohs to very few chances.

“We have to play Bohs in our next outing this weekend at the Showgrounds and that will be an ideal opportunity for the girls to produce a 90-minute performance and if we can do that, then we have a chance.

“It won’t be easy, but it will be a good test of our ability to bounce back from what was a disappointing result the last day,” he added.

Seven days on from that 3-1 FAI Cup quarter-final victory at Dalymount Park, Bohemian FC travel to tackle Sligo Rovers In the Women’s National League (WNL) in the first game in the final round for the hosts with the teams sitting seventh and eighth respectively.

In terms of statistics, the Dublin women have an unbeaten record to maintain and they will also be anxious to maintain a push up the table in pursuit of DLR Waves in sixth.

However, Bohemian FC are two points adrift of the Waves and have a game more played following a scoreless draw with defending champions Shelbourne in a rescheduled game at the beginning of August.

For last Saturday’s Cup tie Abbie Brophy was the main tormentor of the Sligo Rovers rearguard and she caused major problems.

She gave the Dublin side a well-deserved 14th minute lead and soon after he hosts hit a second from a penalty, but an own goal on the stroke of half-time left it almost mission-impossible for the Bit O’Red.

Lauren Boles got her side back into contention early in the second-half with a fine piece of finishing and for the remainder it was end-to-end without any more goals.

Sligo Rovers can boast a victory against Shelbourne in their last WNL outing and they will take confidence from that despite a below-par first-half performance against Bohs in that FAI Cup quarter-final.

Eighteen games into their inaugural WNL season, Sligo Rovers have shown that they can compete and beat the best on home turf as they also shocked high-flying and now second-placed Wexford at the Showgrounds earlier this season.

A victory against Bohemian FC would be a good way to start the final series in the WNL.

We host Viking FK on tonight at 7pm at The Showgrounds in The Europa Conference League.

We outline all our Match Night information below:

Turnstiles:

Turnstiles open from 5.30pm. The game is completely sold out with no admission without a ticket and no cash taken on the night.

Duplicate tickets will be recognised via our scanning system and those with a duplicate ticket will be turned away and banned from attending future matches.

Please have your tickets ready with your barcodes showing at the gate to fasten up the entry process.

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.

We wish to thank all supporters for their support in recent weeks and for the atmosphere created both at home and away.

We thank you for your co-operation

Sligo Rovers are thrilled to announce the signing of Welsh Underage International Cameron Evans who last played for Swansea City until the end of the 2021/22 season.

Evans, 21, also spent a season on loan at Waterford in 2021, appearing 35 times for The Blues so he comes as no stranger to The League of Ireland.

The defender made his Senior debut for Swansea in an FA Cup game against Stevenage in 2021 and moved on loan to Waterford soon after, gaining experience at Senior Level which the defender says has stood him well:

‘’I am happy to be here at Sligo Rovers.

‘’My experience at Waterford was a good one because I was playing games. I played 35 times for them and even though the season ended up differently than we had wanted, I still enjoyed my time in Ireland so when the chance came to come back I jumped at it.

‘’From playing against Sligo Rovers a couple of times I know the type of football club I am coming into and I can’t wait to get started.

‘’John has shown great faith in me and I am looking to pay that back and make an impression here and keep the team going in the right direction for the rest of the season’’.

Manager John Russell is delighted with the latest addition to his squad:

‘’I am delighted we’ve secured the signing of Cameron Evans.

‘’He is a player who has come up through the Swansea Academy and is a Welsh Underage International.

‘’Cameron had experience in our league before where he impressed during a loan spell at Waterford.

‘’He is a young ambitious player who will bring a lot of quality to our team. We’re all looking forward to working with him’’.

Evans is expected to be part of the Rovers squad on Sunday for the first time as we take on St Patrick’s Athletic in Inchicore in The SSE Airtricity League.

Rovers currently lie just one point off Pats with a game in hand.

Sligo Rovers can confirm defender Garry Buckley has suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury which will see him out for the rest of the 2022 season and also a large part of 2023.

The injury occurred in last week’s defeat to Viking FK in The Europa Conference League Third Round Qualifier First-Leg in Stavanger in a challenge with an opponent.

Buckley arrived at Rovers ahead of the 2020 season from Cork City and appeared mostly as a midfielder in his first season at the club.

Since then, he has made the move back to the centre of defence and has impressed on many occasions becoming one of the stand-out defenders in the league, signing a contract extension in 2021 to keep him at The Showgrounds until the end of 2023.

The injury comes at an important time in the season as we continue in Europe and look ahead to the remaining games of our League season and Buckley will prove a big loss to John Russell’s squad.

The club will help Garry over the coming months and support him off the field and we look forward to seeing him in the Bit O’ Red shirt again next season.

John Russell:

‘’We’re all devastated for Garry.

‘’He is a leader within our group and a player of immense quality so we will miss him on the pitch for the rest of this season.

‘’As a club we will do everything to support him on his road to recovery.

‘’It’s a tough moment right now for Garry but I know he will come back fitter and stronger and the fans can look forward to seeing him back on the pitch at some point in 2023’’.