Category: News

Report: WNL: Peamount 2-0 Rovers

Goals in each half from Aine O’Gorman and Sadhbh Doyle earned Peamount Utd a hard-earned 2-0 Women’s National League victory against Sligo Rovers at PRL Park on Saturday evening.

While Peamount thoroughly deserved to win, Sligo Rovers manager Steve Feeney was disappointed that his side didn’t get something out of the game.

“We worked very hard and we were very good in the opening half, it was just unfortunate that we didn’t get to half-time on level terms,” he commented.

“Our performance dipped a little bit in the second-half, but that’s a very good Peamount team, very experienced while we are still learning, but I’m very pleased with our overall performance,” he added.

It’s beginning to look like goalkeeping for the Bit O’Red is quite hazardous as Amy Mahon had to be carried off the pitch with about 10 minutes remaining after she sustained an injury. She joins Kristen Sample, who started the season between the posts, on the sideline.

Sample sustained a broken arm earlier in the season, but Mahon’s knee injury isn’t too serious, she was replaced between the posts by Farrah McDonagh.

“It’s starting to look like a dangerous position to play in, but Amy will be determined to get back for the next game, Farrah did well when she went on and she will be capable of starting the next day, if necessary,” suggested the Bit O’Red manager as he reflected on what was a demanding 90 minutes against Peamount.

Peamount had to work extremely hard for that 1-0 interval advantage and it took all of 42 minutes for the vital opener to arrive.

Aine O’Gorman picked up possession outside the Sligo Rovers penalty area and unleashed a fierce shot that appeared to take a deflection as it flashed past Amy Mahon.

Up to that stage the Sligo women had defended strongly and threatened on the break.

Goalkeeper Amy Mahon produced a number of good saves starting as early as the second minute when she tipped over an Erin McLoughlin effort.

Sadhbh Doyle also went close for Peamount on two occasions midway through the opening half, but just when it looked like the Bit O’Red would get to the interval on level terms, O’Gorman broke the deadlock.

Peamount upped the tempo in the second-half and had early chances from Doyle and Chloe Moloney, the latter denied by the crossbar.

The second goal arrived just after the hour and the chance was created by Stephanie Roche’s lay-off to Doyle who still had plenty to do, but embarked on a mazy run before firing past Mahon.

Gritty and determined would be the best way to describe the Sligo response to conceding that goal and they battled for the remainder without creating any real chances.

Sligo also lost goalkeeper Mahon to that injury after she bravely claimed possession to deny the hosts an opportunity with about 10 minutes remaining. She was replaced by Farrah McDonagh.

Overall, it was a composed and disciplined display by Peamount against a hard-working and focused Sligo Rovers side.

Next up for Sligo Rovers is the visit of Treaty Utd to the Showgrounds on Sunday 2nd October. The action next weekend features the FAI Cup semi-finals.

Peamount Utd – Niamh Reid-Burke; Lauryn O’Callaghan, Tiegan Ruddy, Chloe Moloney, Jetta Berrill, Sadhbh Doyle, Alannah McEvoy, Stephanie Roche, Aine O’Gorman, Karen Duggan, Erin McLaughlin. Subs – Michelle Doonan for McEvoy and Tara O’Hanlon for Roche both 81 mins, Ellen Dolan for Doyle 86m, Jess Fitzgerald for McLaughlin 90m.


Sligo Rovers – Amy Mahon; Leah Kelly, Amy Roddy, Aife Haran, Sarah Kiernan, Emma Hansberry, Gemma McGuinness, Lauren Boles, Fiona Doherty, Emma Doherty, Paula McGrory.
Subs – Helen Monaghan for F Doherty 60 mins, Orna O’Dowd for Hansberry and Katie Melly for McGrory both 81m, Farah McDonagh for Mahon and Aoife Brennan for E Doherty both 81m.


Referee – Rob Dowling.

Annual Draw reaches €42,000

Sligo Rovers Annual Draw is now just 2 weeks away and we can confirm a total of €42,000 has been raised so far with our volunteer sellers continuing to go out and about in the community selling tickets to local supporters.

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 1st 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 weeks to go 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 two weeks 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/

How can you help?

Take a book of tickets to sell to your friends, family or work colleagues. Books have ten tickets and can be got by emailing administrator@sligorovers.com or by contacting someone from the club at tonight’s match.

Ciara Henry takes up ATU Scholarship

Sligo Rovers are delighted to announce that Tubbercurry native Ciara Henry has agreed a long-term deal at Sligo Rovers through a scholarship with Atlantic Technological University.  Henry becomes the second Womens Senior Team player to join the newly formed University who teamed up with Sligo Rovers to sign the attacker.   

Each year, the University offers a limited number of Sligo Rovers players a fee-waiver scholarship which is matched by the club with support to the player throughout the seasons they are studying. Following the establishment of the Senior Women’s team at Sligo Rovers in September 2021, this is the first year the university will offer scholarships to both Senior Women’s and Senior Men’s players.

Ciara joined the Club’s Academy in 2018 and has become and important part of Steve Feeney’s Senior squad throughout this season.

ATU is one of Ireland’s largest multi-campus universities with campuses across Sligo, Donegal, Mayo and Galway. The new university is built on the foundations of over 50 years in higher education and offers academic excellence and the opportunity to participate in sport at a national level.

Henry completed her Leaving Certificate in June at St. Attractas Tubbercurry and will commence studying an honours degree in Health Science and Physical Activity at ATU Sligo as part of the club’s long-standing partnership with Atlantic TU.

Bit O’ Red Women’s Team Manager Steve Feeney:

‘’Ciara has played with the underage teams at the club for the last few seasons where she impressed on numerous occasions. Ciara has shown a great attitude since joining the senior team this year, she has impressed in her appearances this season while also showing a great appetite to improve her game and learn from the players and coaches around her each week in training. 

‘’It’s fantastic that Ciara now has the opportunity to apply that same appetite to learning to her course at ATU while pushing forward with her football career at Sligo Rovers. We are excited to see Ciara’s progress both on and off the pitch in the coming years’’

Henry will now be part of ATU Sligo’s Senior Women’s team who will compete in the Third Level Colleges League and Cups throughout the academic year, which starts in the coming weeks.

Dr Michele Glacken, Vice President, Registrar and Student Affairs, Teaching & Learning at ATU commented:

“It is fantastic to support talented young people seeking to fulfil their academic and sporting ambitions within our region. The ATU partnership with Sligo Rovers has helped to attract students dedicated to playing at elite level, while gaining a University degree. At ATU we continue to invest and develop scholarship programmes that meet the needs of our student population, their families and our wider University community. We wish Ciara every success in her future here at ATU and on the pitch with Sligo Rovers”   

FAI football facilitator at ATU Sligo, Colm Jinks, is delighted with the new addition to the Women’s Soccer club at the university:

‘’The partnership works for everyone – It is great to have a player of Ciara’s ability here with us, not only at ATU Sligo but to continue their development at Sligo Rovers.

‘’The Senior Women’s team have done so well this year in their first ever season competing in The Women’s National League and Ciara has been a big part of that having come through the academy.

‘’This shows that young girls coming through the club’s academy system will be given an opportunity at senior level and may also enhance their skills by gaining an excellent education at ATU Sligo’’.

Academy Weekend Preview: September 16th

Sligo Rovers Academy have a full programme of fixtures this weekend which starts on Saturday afternoon.

Our Under 14 side host Bohemians at 2pm at The Sean Fallon Centre. The sides met just a fortnight ago in Dublin, with Bohs winning 4-1.

Our Under 17 Mens team are on the road as we take on Bray Wanderers at 3.30pm in Ballychorus. The sides played out an entertaining 3-3 draw at The Sean Fallon Centre during the summer.

Our Under 17 Womens team host Shelbourne at 4.30pm at The Sean Fallon Centre. The teams have met twice this season with The Dubliners winning on both occasions.

Sunday sees both our Under 19 teams in cup action.

At 2pm at The Showgrounds, our Mens team host Dundalk in the quarter final of the Under 19 Men’s Cup.

At the same time, in Greenogue in Dublin, our Under 19 Womens team are also in quarter final action against Peamount United. This will be the first meeting at this level this season between both clubs and a repeat of Saturday’s Senior Womens team fixture at the same venue.

Our Under 15 team travel down South to take on Cobh Ramblers at 2pm at St Colman’s Park. These sides met at The Showgrounds recently with Cobh winning 2-0.

McNicholas called up to Republic of Ireland Under 21’s

Rovers goalkeeper Luke McNicholas has been called up to The Republic of Ireland Under 21 squad for their upcoming European Play-Off games against Israel.

McNicholas has been selected regularly throughout the past twelve months or so and will once again join up with Jim Crawford’s squad from Sunday as they prepare for next Friday’s First-Leg in Tallaght Stadium (7pm).

The Second-Leg takes place away from home on Tuesday September 27th.

Luke will return to Sligo ahead of the game against Shamrock Rovers on October 1st.

Duffy starts in Irish Under 16’s win

Emma Duffy was part of The Republic of Ireland Under 16 Womens team who defeated Wales for the second time this week in Newport.

Duffy started yesterday’s 1-0 victory, which followed Tuesday’s 5-1 win at the same venue.

Emma has been in good form for our Under 17’s this season and returns to the squad ahead of tomorrow’s game at Sean Fallon Centre against Shelbourne.

Doherty captains Ireland Under 19’s

Sligo Rovers Senior Womens striker Emma Doherty captained The Republic of Ireland Under 19’s on Thursday in a friendly against Portugal.

This was the second game between the sides in the matter of 48 hours as they played out a scoreless draw on Tuesday afternoon.

Emma started in that game also and was given the honour of leading her team out as they were defeated 3-0 Thursday evening.

Emma returns to the Rovers squad for Saturday’s game away to Peamount United.

Preview: Rovers travel to Peamount on Saturday

Sligo Rovers travel to PRL Park on Saturday evening to tackle title-chasing Peamount Utd in a crucial Women’s National League (WNL) encounter having already lost twice on the pitch to the Dublin side this season.

However, that opening day victory for Peamount was reversed and the Dublin club forfeited three points over fielding an ineligible player.

That error could yet prove very costly for Peamount as they currently sit in third place some six points adrift of leaders Wexford with five games remaining.

The form of the Sligo Rovers players has been noted also with striker Emma Doherty playing twice for the Republic of Ireland Under 19’s against Portugal this week and captaining the team on Thursday.

The focus for the Bit O’Red will turn to the trip to Dublin to tackle a team that last Saturday knocked defending champions and leaders Shelbourne off top spot when they grabbed a 1-0 victory at Tolka Park with a 77th Stephanie Roche winner.


That’s the challenge facing a Sligo Rovers side that hasn’t won in the last four WNL outings, the previous victory was achieved against Shelbourne at the Showgrounds at the end of July.

Apart from that victory, Sligo Rovers also defeated Wexford when the current leaders visited the North West in June.

That type of form suggests that, on a good day, Sligo Rovers can compete with the best.

Scoring goals hasn’t been a major problem for Steve Feeney’s side, six in the last four games, but the concession of 14 goals tells its own story.

“We’ve conceded goals too easily, it has been a problem all season for us and it’s an area we have to improve on,” commented the Bit O’Red manager.


“If we can make it more difficult for teams to score against us, then we are going to have a chance, it’s as simple as that,” he added.

On a positive note, the form of Paula McGrory who has scored five goals in the last three games is one area where Sligo Rovers may pose questions for Peamount.

“It’s great to see Paula getting the goals, but her overall game shows that she is as good as anyone in the League,” said Feeney


“We have a decent squad of players, we have a decent tally of points, but we have been on 19 now for a while and it would be nice to get on to 20 or 22 with this visit to Dublin.

“If we can defend a bit better than we did last week against Galway in the second-half, then we won’t be too far off the pace,” he concluded.

Pijnaker to join up with New Zealand

Bit O’ Red defender Nando Pijnaker will join up with his New Zealand team-mates this week ahead of the upcoming International window where the New Zealanders will take on Australia in two friendly games.

The first game takes place on Thursday September 22nd in Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, three days before the sides meet again at Eden Park in Auckland.

Nando will return in time for our League fixture against Shamrock Rovers on October 1st.

Under 17 Womens’ player Emma Duffy in Ireland Under 16 squad

Our Womens Under 17 player Emma Duffy is on International duty this week as she is part of the Republic of Ireland Under 16 Womens squad for two friendlies against Wales away from home.

The first game took place yesterday afternoon and The Irish side won 5-1 in Newport.

Emma was named on the bench yesterday and is expected to feature again in tomorrow’s game.

Well done Emma.