Four home games brought three wins and a draw for the academy this weekend, including progression in the cup for the U14s and a winning start for the U17 and U19W in their respective Shield campaigns.

Conor Langan scored the only goal of the game as the U14s defeated Galway United 1-0 at the Showgrounds on Saturday lunchtime. Galway came into the match unbeaten in 9 games this season, winning 7 of those, scoring 37 times and conceding just 8. However, they were kept scoreless for just the second time this season as Rovers made it back-to-back wins, adding to the terrific 4-0 win over Cavan/Monaghan last weekend.

Concurrently, at the Sean Fallon Centre, the U17s were starting their Shield campaign with a victory over Athlone Town. Rovers were beaten 3-2 in extra time by the same opposition in the Mark Farren Cup just a week prior so revenge was sought and, 90 minutes later, procured, as the home side ran out 3-0 winners. Adam Nugent scored for the second week running to put us 1-0 up with Darragh Reilly and Niall Holohan ensuring there was no way back for the visitors. Rovers travel to Longford next Saturday hoping to make it two wins out of two.

The regular season ended for the U17W (barring a rearranged Athlone Town fixture) on Saturday evening at home to Bohemians. Rebecca Doddy continued her stunning goal scoring run as she fired her 7^th goal in the last 6 games to earn Rovers a 1-1 draw as we await the start of the Shield. Rovers will be among the favourites to win the competition having finished 4^th in the league.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon our U19W picked up 3 points in an entertaining game at home to Donegal. Eimear McIntyre and Kate Nugent scored for Rovers and we saw the game out despite a Donegal consolation. We have a fantastic home record this season, winning all but one game (a late 1-0 defeat to DLR after injury left us down to 10 women) and will be confident of topping the league come the end of October. Up next for our women is a trip to Carlow next Sunday for our 2^nd of 6 games.

Richard Mullan

Our 500 Club monthly draw took place recently, with July’s winners announced by The 500 Club Committee.

The winner of the top prize of €500 was Conal Cassidy, Lucan, Co. Dublin.

The 500 Club continues to be one of the club’s most important fundraisers since it was founded in 2003. Over 500 members contribute €20 per month which can be paid via standing order or an up front annual payment.

The full list of winners can be found below:

1st: €500 – Conal Cassidy, Lucan, Co Dublin.

2nd: €100 – Mark Keane, Treacy Avenue, Sligo

3rd: €100 – Dermot Mannion, Circular Road, Sligo

4th: €100 – Susan Brennan, Benbulben Terrace, Sligo

5th: €100 – Aidan Meehan, Blue Lagoon, Sligo

6th: €100 – Colm Feeney, Circular Road, Sligo

7th: €100 – Caroline Carr, Knocknahur, Sligo

8th: €100 – Brendan McIntyre, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh.

9th: €100 – Roddy Murphy, Goatstown, Dublin

10th: €100 – Damien Sherlock – Mullingar Co Westmeath

Congratulations to all our winners and thanks to all our 500 Club members for their continued support.

To join our 500 Club, visit https://srfcdirect.com/500-club-membership-1-year/ or contact michaelclancy04@gmail.com

Five of our Academy sides were in action as the regular season began to wind down, this weekend being the penultimate game for all of our lads teams aside from the U17s.

The U19s faced St. Patrick’s Athletic at the Sean Fallon Centre on Sunday with just two points separating the sides at the top of the league. Pats nicked an early lead in a really open and entertaining first half that saw both teams seemingly taking turns to attack. Kailin Barlow thought he had made it 1-1 on the stroke of half time but his curling free kick hit the underside of the crossbar, then, seconds later, he was given a second yellow card as he tried to win back possession in the ensuing scramble in the box. The second half was therefore far cagier as Pats were happy to maintain possession and Rovers best chances came from set pieces. As the game wore on the home side committed men forward looking for an equaliser while Pats were threatening on the break, and it was one such break that led to the dismissal of Daragh Ellison for a professional foul on 87 minutes. To add insult to injury, the resulting free kick was curled low past James Robinson to make it 0-2. Rovers now play Athlone Town away next week in the final league game needing just a point to guarantee a top 5 spot and qualification to the 10-team champions league.

Our U17s drew 2-2 in Drogheda to finish 4^th in the standings, cruelly missing out on a top 3 place by just one point. Aaron Heaney and Sam Tuohy scored our goals but the league leaders held on to send Rovers into the Shield which commences at the end of August.

Alice Lilly scored the consolation in our WU17s 2-1 defeat away to Athlone Town on Saturday evening. The result means Rovers will take part in the Shield as we lie seven points from 3^rd with just two games remaining. Next week it’s a trip to Galway for our women before a home game against bottom side Bohemians.

Gary Farren scored once in each half as Rovers beat Mayo 3-2 in a fantastic game at the Showgrounds on Sunday afternoon. Both sides could have doubled their respective score but for some excellent goalkeeping at both ends. Conor Walsh scored our other goal to celebrate his call up to the Irish U18s panel. The lads now travel to Cavan next Sunday with both sides already qualified for the Shield.

The U14s were unluckily beaten by the odd goal in five in Mayo on Saturday and remain 5^th in the table with one game to go. Conor Langan and Danny Woodrow scored the Sligo Rovers goals. We face Cavan/Monaghan at home next week in our final game looking to avenge a 2-1 defeat from earlier in the season and potentially move up to 4^th, both sides have definitely qualified for the Shield however.

Richard Mullan

Last weekend proved to be a frustrating one for our academy teams.

On Wednesday last, our Under 14 side went down 2-1 to Derry City at The Sean Fallon Centre. Cian Nicholson’s goal reduced the deficit but Rovers’ efforts wern’t enough as the visitors closed the game out well in the final stages.

On Saturday, at home to Finn Harps, our Under 17 men’s team drew 1-1. Daire McCarthy’s goal in the first half had given The Bit O Red the lead, but Harps equalised in the second half after Liam Lee was dismissed for Rovers.

Our Under 17 women’s team lost out narrowly to Shamrock Rovers (1-0) at Ballisodare United’s astro turf pitch on a wet and windy afternoon. an entertaining game with plenty of chances for both sides ended up with the visitors taking all three points.

On the same day, Declan Boyle’s men’s Under 19 side were defeated 1-0 by the same opposition at Roadstone in Dublin. The lads are in cup action this evening (Wednesday) at home to Galway United at The Showgrounds.

Darragh Healy took his Under 19 women’s team to Dublin on Sunday to take on Shelbourne. Rovers were unlucky in the game, missing some good chances but the hosts ran out 1-0 winners.

Follow our academy teams on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for daily updates: @sligoroversacad

Dublin will provide the opposition for three of our academy sides over the weekend while a North-West derby kicks off the action on Saturday lunchtime.

Our U17s face Finn Harps at the Sean Fallon Centre looking to guarantee a top three finish in the league. Rovers have been in sensational form recently, winning four consecutive games without conceding a goal – three in a row in the league to add to last week’s 2-0 victory over Derry in the Mark Farren cup. Harps, however, have been in freefall, failing to win any of their previous four games and scoring just once in the process, having initially led the league after the opening weekend. Rovers sit 3^rd behind Derry and Drogheda, who meet this weekend, knowing that victory (and results elsewhere) could ensure qualification to the champions phase with a game still to play. (K.O. – Saturday 1pm)

The U19s face a tough test in Tallaght on Saturday against Shamrock Rovers with both sides smarting from a first defeat of the season last weekend.  Rovers and Shams were tied on top with 13 points but lost at home to UCD and St. Pats respectively as they slipped behind Derry City in the standings. With three games of the league campaign remaining, it would be a shock if either team fell out of the top five at this stage (Athlone are 6^th, six points adrift) while victory for either side would virtually guarantee a spot in the Champions Phase in September. (K.O. – Saturday 2pm)

Rovers and Shams meet twice this weekend, the WU17 face their capital counterparts in Boyle on Saturday evening in Group A. Shams are undefeated this season and lead Galway by a point at the top of the league with a massive eight-point gap then separating 2nd and 3rd. Rovers are currently 4^th but just a point behind Donegal in 3^rd with a game in hand. Since two of the best 3^rd place sides (From Group A, B and C) will qualify for the Champions Phase in September, Rovers have plenty to play for in this upcoming congested period of 5 games in the next 21 days. (K.O. – Saturday 4pm)

Our WU19 wrap up their season away to Shelbourne in Group B on Sunday afternoon with qualification for the League Shield almost certain. Group A was completed last weekend meaning our women need a big win in Dublin along with a Donegal slip against Bray (bottom on 0 pts) to have any chance of the Champions Phase. It is unfortunate for our women who have played so well this season and such a fine line between the top 3 and the rest, our 1-0 defeat to league leaders DLR Waves on July 4^th stands out as we conceded in the 87^th minute while down to 10 women due to injury. Even a 0-0 in that game would have Rovers in pole position for 3^rd heading into this weekend. As such, Rovers will be one of the favourites to lift the Shield next month. (K.O. – Sunday 2pm)

Richard Mullan

The Bit O’ Red are back in action this Saturday night at 7.45pm at The Showgrounds against North West neighbours Finn Harps.

With 800 supporters permitted to attend this game, we are now asking Season Pack holders to arrive to the turnstiles on Saturday night and produce your season ticket booklet.

This booklet is unique to you and will be checked, along with Valid ID on the night to allow you access to the match.

Anyone who turns up without a their Season Pack booklet will be refused entry. This will be strictly implemented.

Seats in both the Treacy Avenue Stand and Jink’s Avenue Stand will be first come, first served and will be marked out for social distancing purposes.

The Pet Stop Stand will also be open as well as a small number of standing spaces at the near, Nazareth House End.

We are asking all supporters in attendance to remember to keep apart by sitting only in seats that are permitted to be used. Face coverings must also be worn at all times, to increase everyone’s safety.

We will have a limited amount of general sale tickets for The PetStop End and Standing area at The Showgrounds on Friday on sale between 2pm and 4pm.

All tickets are priced €15 with no concessions.

This will be strictly a maximum of TWO tickets per person, with no exceptions.

Sales will be in The Showgrounds only with no sales over the phone or digitally. We will ask for details for contact tracing.

We thank all supporters for their patience and support.

The club will be permitted to increase our capacity for our upcoming games against Finn Harps (this Saturday 7.45pm) and Derry City (Saturday August 21st 7.45pm) to 800, in line with government and public health guidelines.

Rovers are currently working with our ticketing partner on a new system which will allow all Season Pack holders to redeem a unique barcode through our ticketing portal, enabling them to redeem their barcode to download a match ticket for each home match, until their Season Match Pack book is fully used.

These supporters would then print their E Ticket and present it on match night at the turnstiles, along with one ticket from their booklet.

Season Pack holders will receive instructions in the next day or so with this information, once finalised. We urge supporters to please check their emails, including their spam or junk folders.

If Season Pack holders are in any doubt about the email address provided at the time of purchase, please email your correct email address without delay to colinfeehily@sligorovers.com

Once finalised, this system will allow the club to give Season Pack holders an opportunity and a deadline to avail of their ticket for each game and after this point an amount of general sale tickets would be available at The Showgrounds at a designated time one day before the fixture.

It is hoped this system will help those supporters who may not have had an opportunity to purchase a Season Pack for this season the chance to attend our games again, having missed out previously.

Away supporters will be unable to attend The Showgrounds until further notice.

We thank all our supporters for their support and patience in recent times.

The opening round of the cup dominates the fixtures of our men’s academy this weekend with the U19s solely on league duty. Our WU17 are on their travels for the second week running as our WU19 take their obligatory weekend off from the seven-team league.

The entire WU17 side will be buoyed by last weekend’s 5-2 dismantling of Bohemians in Dublin as they make their way to Donegal on Saturday evening. Rebecca Doddy and Anna Meade may be smiling brighter than most however, the former scored her first ever hat trick for Sligo Rovers last weekend while Anna celebrated her goal in the same game with a call up to the Irish Assessments panel last Monday 26^th (Anna was one of five Sligo Rovers players called up). Rovers sit third in the table, six and seven points behind Galway and Shamrock Rovers respectively, albeit with a game in hand. Donegal had started the season well but have failed to win any of their last three games, losing two. (KO – Saturday 5.30pm)

Our unbeaten U19 men’s side host UCD this weekend looking to keep pace with Shamrock Rovers at the top of the league, both teams have identical records with Shams just shading it on goal difference. UCD should provide a stern test having only been beaten once this season (W2 D2 L1) while the students tally of 18 goals is the second highest in the league, ahead of Rovers and trailing only Shams. Eanna Clancy (4) and Josh Mulrennan (3) are our top scorers and both men were on target as we beat Longford 2-0 last weekend, continuing the trend of one or both men scoring in every game for us so far this season. (KO – Sunday 2pm)

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Rovers and Athlone meet in the U14 Cup 1^st round, both happy for a break from their league travails after suffering 6-2 and 8-0 defeats respectively in recent games. An early goal for Rovers and we can be confident of a first win of the season away to an Athlone side who have already suffered 7-0 and 8-0 defeats this season on home turf. (KO – Saturday 12pm)

The opening round of the Mark Farren cup takes place at the Sean Fallon Centre on Saturday afternoon as our U17 side host Derry City. Derry sit second in the league, one point and one place above Rovers and were victorious in our only prior meeting this season, a 3-1 win in Derry four weeks ago. However, Rovers have won all three games since then, scoring seven and conceding none, while Derry have won just once in that period, drawing the other two. (KO – Saturday 2pm)

The preview ends as it began, in Donegal, as our U15s take on Finn Harps in the first round of their cup incarnation. It was ‘one of those days’ for our boys on Thursday night against Derry where everything went wrong, a complete once off that didn’t sync up with how the lads have played all season to this point. The result was an anomaly and to add to the tragicomedy of it all – Rovers had beaten Derry 1-0 away just seven days prior. Finn Harps have beaten us twice (4-2 and 0-2) this season so what better way to avenge all three results than a win on the road this Sunday. (KO – Sunday 2pm)

Richard Mullan

Our U14 side kicked off the weekends action playing host to Finn Harps on Friday evening at the Sean Fallon Centre, the game played in front of a good crowd split almost evenly between home and away fans. The balmy conditions allowed for a slow start before the away side struck twice in sixty seconds midway through the first half, with a third goal coming ten minutes later to effectively kill the contest. Rovers had the better chances of an entertaining second half but neither keeper was beaten as Harps departed Sligo with three points to accompany their three goals.

On Saturday afternoon our U17 Womens’ and Mens’ sides travelled to Dublin (Bohemians) and Athlone respectively, both sides returning home with a win apiece.  Rebecca Doddy was the star of the show for the women, her superb hat trick helping Rovers up to third in the table. Alicia Hogge and Anna Meade also scored their first goals of the season as we ran out 5-2 winners in the end. Down by the Shannon, Conor Campbell scored the only goal of the game to make it three wins on the bounce for our U17 side. The result sends Rovers third and just three points off top spot while Conor is also our top scorer in the league this season after he found the net against Dundalk and Derry City.

Josh Mulrennan (3 goals in 5 games) and Eanna Clancy (4 in 5) were once again on the scoresheet on Sunday afternoon, the second time this season both men have scored in the same game, as our U19s beat Longford Town 2-0 away from home. Rovers remain unbeaten, having only dropped two points this season, and currently sit joint-top of the league with Shamrock Rovers after five games. Shams dropped points after drawing 3-3 with UCD, a team Rovers welcome to the Showgrounds this coming Sunday.

Our U15 side remain third in the league after a 4-2 defeat in a terrific game at league leaders Finn Harps on Sunday evening. It was our boys second away game in four days after a tremendous 1-0 win in Derry on Thursday night. Kyle McDonagh and Garry Farren scored their first goals of the season in Ballybofey but it wasn’t enough for the lads against a strong Harps side. Finally, staying in Donegal, our Womens U19 side were leapfrogged in the table by our hosts after we suffered a 3-1 defeat, Jessica Casey with our consolation on the night. Rovers slip to fifth in the league but remain three points off second with one game remaining.

Upcoming Games  This Week:

Derry City U14 vs Sligo Rovers U14 – Wednesday July 28 @ 5.30pm

Sligo Rovers U15 vs Derry City U15 – Thursday July 29 @ 7.30pm

Sligo Rovers U17 W vs Shamrock Rovers U17W – Saturday July 31 @ 4pm

Sligo Rovers U19 vs UCD U19 – Sunday August 1 @ 2pm

Richard Mullan

All six of our academy sides will be back in action this weekend beginning with the U14 side at home on Friday night. The rest of the fixtures will see our men and women heading out on the road on Saturday and Sunday.

Our youngest lads take on Finn Harps on Friday evening at the Showgrounds looking for their first win of the season (D1, L2) while also looking for revenge from the opening weekends corresponding fixture – a 3-0 win for the home side in Ballybofey. Scoring goals has been Rovers problem so far this season with just the one scored in our opening three matches, however, we do have the joint second best defence in the 5-team league.

Our U15 side play twice in four days starting with a victory over Derry City last night, the current league leaders. Rovers then make their way to Donegal to meet Finn Harps on Sunday afternoon, again with revenge in mind, after the latter were victorious by two goals to nil on the opening day of the season.

The U17 team will be in Athlone on Saturday at 3pm looking to make it three wins in a row. With the top sides, Drogheda and Dundalk, playing each other the same day, Rovers can end the weekend inside the top two. Confidence should be high in the camp after back-to-back wins and consecutive clean sheets have fired us up the league table.

Rovers’ U19 men go to Longford on Sunday afternoon hoping to keep their unbeaten run intact. A thrilling 3-2 win over Finn Harps last weekend moved us up to second, two points behind Shamrock Rovers. Longford sit second from bottom after a 3-0 home loss to the league leaders last weekend, their sixteen goals conceded being the worst in the league, whereas Rovers have scored ten times in our last three games and will expect to add to that on Sunday.

The first of our women’s fixtures this weekend sees the U17s travel to Dublin to take on Bohemians on Saturday. Both sides are level on three points in the league but Rovers have a game in hand on their capital rivals. Bohs picked up their first win of the season last weekend after losing 5-0 and 12-0 in their two prior games, Rovers will be hoping to record a first win since the opening weekend victory at home to Donegal.

Finally, on Sunday our U19 women travel north to take on Donegal hoping to make it two wins in a row. Rovers were terrific in the 1-0 win last weekend against Bray, Nola Eivers rocket sending us fourth and just three points off the top. Donegal sit one place and two points below us having played one game fewer but have failed to win since their opening day victory over Bohemians.

Richard Mullan