Sligo Rovers host Drogheda United at The Showgrounds on Saturday night in what will be the second meeting between the two clubs this season.

Last time out back in March, Rovers won 3-0 in Head in The Game Park thanks to goals from Lewis Banks, Jordan Hamilton and Will Fitzgerald.

Since then, The Drogs have been in good form and are currently unbeaten in their last six Premier Division games, winning two of those and drawing four.

Rovers are coming into the game on the back of a Derby win against North-West neighbours Finn Harps on Monday night after Karl O’ Sullivan scored his first goal for the club in the first half.

Manager Liam Buckley looks forward to Saturday’s game:

‘’It should be a good game on Saturday night. I am looking forward to it. We were happy to pick up three points on Monday night and are in fourth position going into the weekend. We have been working hard again in training this week and want to play well against Drogheda who have been in good form lately.

When we played them up there we did really well in the first half, going three goals ahead. We’ll be looking to make a good start again and try to keep improving.

The fans have come out in good numbers this season at The Showgrounds and it’s important that they come out again and get behind the lads as always. It should be a decent crowd on the night.

In team news, Buckley expects to have a full squad to chose from and there are no suspension issues.

Turnstiles open at 6.30pm and supporters are encouraged to arrive early and park responsibly around the area.

Steve Feeney and his Sligo Rovers Women’s senior team face a long journey to Wexford on Saturday to take on Wexford Youths at Ferrycarrig Park at 6pm.

The hosts are vastly experienced having played in the league for a number of seasons and will prove to be a tough test for Rovers, however The Bit O’ Red come into the game full of confidence following two strong performances against Shelbourne and Treaty Untied, the latter ending in a 3-1 win last Saturday at The Showgrounds.

Wexford are currently in third position in the Women’s National League table, one spot ahead of The Bit O’ Red and three points better off.

Manager Steve Feeney:

‘’It was fantastic to get our first win in the showgrounds last Saturday against Treaty United. It was great to see another good turn out and its brilliant to see how people are getting behind the team. 

The players put in another big performance showing the two sides of this team, two sides that will be very important throughout the season. In the first half we played some really good football at times and scored three very good goals with Aoife Brennan’s free kicks rightly being the highlight. In the second half the players showed a desire and togetherness to defend well and restrict Treaty to a few chances while still offering a treat on the counter-attack to see out the game and get the three points. 

This weekend we travel to Wexford to take on the reigning Cup champions, who are a very good side with some really talented players and I’m sure they will be hoping to challenge for the league title this year. We look forward to another exciting challenge and it’s another opportunity for the players to show their qualities against a top team.’’

In team news, Sarah Kiernan is out due to illness and Kristen Sample, Paula McGrory, Helen Monaghan and Emma Hansberry will all be assessed before the trip to Wexford.

The game will be Live on LOI TV from 6pm.

The Bit O’ Red Academy have another action-packed weekend upcoming with five games taking place between Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

Our Under 17 men’s team host Galway United at 1pm at The Sean Fallon Centre on Saturday. Darragh Reilly’s side were defeated 4-0 in Derry last weekend and will be looking to pick up some points at home.

At 2pm in Letterkenny, our Under 15 team face Derry City. Rovers are currently in good form with four wins from the opening five games in the group in 2022.

At the same time in Dublin, Aaron O’ Connor’s Under 17 women’s team face Bohemians at Oscar Traynor Centre. The girls go into the game on the back of a scoreless draw at home to Athlone Town last Saturday and currently have seven points from a possible eighteen so far this season.

On Sunday, both our Under 19 squads are in action.

At 2pm at The Sean Fallon Centre, our men’s side host Dundalk. The lads enjoyed a 2-1 win away from home last Sunday in Athlone and can make it three wins from three games with a win on Sunday.

Our Under 19 women’s side face a long trip to Marlay Park in Dublin to play DLR Waves at 3pm. The girls won 4-0 at home to Donegal last weekend and currently have thirteen points from a possible eighteen this season.

As always, all home fixtures at The Sean Fallon Centre are free to watch and all support is welcome.

Our Academy teams were in action over the Easter weekend with both our Under 17 and 19 Men’s and Women’s teams all playing across Saturday and Sunday.

There were no fixtures at Under 14 or 15 level as both squads had a well earned rest after a busy period.

On Saturday, Our Under 17 Women hosted Athlone Town at MacSharry Park. Both sides created a number of chances but couldn’t take them, meaning the game ended scoreless.

At the same time, our Under 17 Men’s team travelled to The Melvin Centre to play Derry City. It was a tight encounter with the hosts leading 1-0 going into the last fifteen minutes. Unfortunately for The Bit O’ Red, Derry scored three late goals to add a gloss to the scoreline when in fact it was probably a tighter game than the score suggested.

Sunday saw both Under 19 teams in action with Declan Boyle’s Men’s side taking on Athlone Town away from home at 3pm. An early goal from Patrick Montgomery put Rovers ahead. The hosts levelled soon after but Peter Maguire scored from a corner in the second half to secure three points in a 2-1 victory.

At 4.30pm, our Under 19 Women defeated Donegal 4-0 at Sean Fallon Centre thanks to goals from Eimear McIntyre (2), Lara Swann and Ciara Henry. This leaves Rovers on 13 points from a possible 18 so far this season.

Sligo Rovers manager Steve Feeney was understandably delighted with the performance of his team in Saturday’s Women’s National League game against Treaty United at The Showgrounds.

The home supporters were treated to two superb goals from Aoife Brennan as the hosts recorded a first home win in their debut season, an achievement that the manager felt was important.

“It was great to get that first home win, we played well and we played some nice football, at times,” commented Feeney.

“I thought the Treaty Utd goal was against the run of play, but we had to respond to it and we did.

“It was a game I thought we could win, but when we conceded that own goal after about 10 minutes we had to work hard to get back into the game.

“Overall, the first-half, I felt we deserved to be ahead at half-time, we got the goals and that was important.

“Two brilliant frees by Aoife (Brennan) and a great effort from Emma (Doherty) gave us that 3-1 half-time advantage.

“We knew, after the break, that it would be difficult against the wind, a lot of long balls from Treaty.

“Our back four, and particularly Amy Mahon making her first start bewteen the posts, they were all excellent

“The overall workrate of the team was superb, we played football in the first-half, but it was the commitment and desire that got us through the second-half.

“We were missing Emma Handberry today, she scored that great goal from a free a few weeks ago here against Bohemians, but today Aoife took the responsibility.

“We also have Sarah Kiernan and Emma Doherty who can also take the frees, but they decide amongst themselves.

“It was also a first start for Amy (Mahon), she only turned 18 a few weeks ago and she came in there today for her first senior game.

“She’s new to the squad, one of the last players we signed, she was superb today, that’s the best way I can describe her performance,” he added.

Looking ahead to the next outing, Sligo Rovers will travel to play a Wexford side that beat Cork City 5-1 on Saturday.

That will present another big challenge for this improving Sligo Rovers team that pushed champions Shelbourne all the way to added time at Tolka Park a fortnight ago.

“We have Wexford next Saturday and that will be a tough game for us,” admitted Feeney.

“We will prepare as best we can and see if we can get something from the game.

Now, after six games, I think we actually have a stronger squad that I realised at the start.

“The togetherness in the team, it’s a great boost and it was evident against Treaty from the players who came in.

“There is great determination amongst the players and there is also lots of ability and that’s starting to come though now,” he added.

PHOTO: SLIGO ROVERS MANAGER STEVE FEENEY AFTER THE WIN AGAINST TREATY UTD. PHOTO: MICHAEL MELLY / BIT O’RED PHOTOGRAPHY

Sligo Rovers made the short journey to Ballybofey on Easter Monday as we met Finn Harps for the second time this season.

The sides met back in March at The Showgrounds with Rovers winning 3-1 thanks to an Aidan Keena hat-trick.

Both sides were away from home on Friday night. The hosts coming back from a goal behind to draw 2-2 with Bohemians in Dalymount Park and Rovers defeated narrowly 2-1 against Dundalk at Oriel Park.

Liam Buckley made five changes to his starting eleven from that game in Dundalk with Greg Bolger, Lewis Banks, Garry Buckley, Aidan Keena and Will Fitzgerald all replaced in the team by Niall Morahan, Colm Horgan, Shane Blaney, David Cawley and Mark Byrne.

The Bit O’ Red started well and forced a number of early corners. The was good attacking play from Rovers particularly down the left with Mark Byrne, making his first start of the season, causing problems for the Harps defence along with Max Mata and David Cawley with Paddy Kirk also getting forward from left back.

On 18 minutes, the first real chance of the game fell to Cawley who forced Mark McGinley into a fine save with his feet after working space in the area. Just two minutes later Cawley was instrumental again as his perfect through ball found Byrne in behind but McGinley produced another big save to deny him. The ball fell to Mata in the box but he couldn’t quite get control of the ball and his shot was also saved by the Harps’ goalkeeper.

Rovers weren’t to be denied for long however and were rewarded on 25 minutes. Kirk’s ball found Mata who held it up well before turning and feeding it to the left to Byrne. His pass in behind the defence found the on rushing Cawley who dinked it over the Harps keeper toward goal. Regan Donelon, facing Rovers for the first time since his move to Harps, got back and cleared it off the line but his clearance hit Karl O’ Sullivan and fell into the net for the winger’s first goal for the club.

Referee Paul McLaughlin had his card out moments later. Bastien Hery was booked for a poor tackle on David Cawley and as both teams came together in the aftermath, Ethan Boyle and Shane Blaney were both carded.

Rovers went in 1-0 up at half-time and in truth it could well have been a couple more.

The second half started slowly with Harps having long range shots from Donelon and Mark Timlin sail over Ed McGinty’s crossbar early on. Max Mata was replaced by Jordan Hamilton on the hour for Rovers as Liam Buckley made his first change of the evening.

Harps pushed forward in the last quarter of an hour and forced some corners. McGinty stood tall for Rovers and claimed some high balls sent in from the Harps wingers with little in way of real chances being created.

One big chance did fall to Timlin however as a clearance was charged down by Harps and Mihaljevic got in down the right. His cross found Timlin but somehow a Rovers defender got back to block his effort and put it behind for another Harps corner.

Liam Buckley introduced Will Fitzgerald and Greg Bolger in the last ten minutes and Rovers saw out the game well with Harps pushing forward and McGinty again claiming some high balls to see us through and earn a vital three points.

Next up is Drogheda United on Saturday evening at The Showgrounds. The game kicks off at 7.45pm.

Sligo Rovers travel to Finn Park in Ballybofey tomorrow night in the second North-West derby of the season. (Kick off 6pm)

Last time out at The Showgrounds, Rovers ran out 3-1 winners after a strong performance from the team including a Man of The Match display from Aidan Keena who bagged a hat-trick.

Six points currently separate the sides with Rovers in fifth and Harps in ninth position after ten league games each.

Both sides were away from home on Friday night with The Bit O’ Red falling to a 2-1 defeat to Dundalk at Oriel Park and Harps fighting back from 2-1 down in Dalymount Park against Bohemians to rescue a point in stoppage time through Mark Timlin.

Rovers manager Liam Buckley looks ahead to the game:

We know Finn Park is a tricky place to go. We always have good hard battles against them and Ollie and his staff will no doubt have them ready to go tomorrow night.

I felt we played well on Friday night for large spells. We could have taken the lead if we had taken our early chances but we need to defend those goals a bit better.

We are looking forward to Monday night’s game and we want to do well and try and kick on again into the coming weeks.

In team news Rovers will assess the fitness of Jordan Hamilton and Robbie McCourt after the pair missed the game with Dundalk through injury.

The game is live on LOI TV and on Ocean FM.

Two super strikes from Aoife Brennan and one from Emma Doherty gave Sligo Rovers a first home win in the Women’s National League today against Treaty Utd writes Conall Collier.

Manager Steve Feeney had to make a number of changes due to the unavailability of a number of his squad. Amongst those missing were Yasmin Connolly, Keela Scanlon, Helen Monaghan, Fiona Doherty, Emma Hansberry and Kristen Sample who was on coaching duty in Malta with the Republic of Ireland u-16 girls.

That gave Amy Mahon a first start between the posts and she produced a top class display in front of the home supporters.

Former Sligo Rovers manager (Men’s team) Don O’ Riordan returned to The Showgrounds at the helm of the Limerick side that came into the game in bottom position in the table without a win in four outings.
 
Rovers had a couple of early chances with Sarah Kiernan and Emma Doherty going close from frees, but a Leah Kelly own goal in the 11th minute that gave Treaty United the lead and left the hosts facing a stiff challenge.

The Limerick side held on to the advantage until nine minutes from the interval when Aoife Brennan levelled from a superbly-struck free on the edge of the penalty area.

Scarcely 60 seconds later, the hosts hit the front from Emma Doherty’s fine finish after she beat the offside and gave Treaty ‘keeper Michaela Mitchell no chance.

And it got better for the Bit O’Red on the stroke of half-time when Brennan rifled another free to the top corner to give the hosts a valuable 3-1 interval advantage.

Wind-assisted Treaty resumed smartly after the resumption and Mahon produced a smart save to deny Heidi O’Sullivan in the 50th minute.

The Bit O’Red worked hard to take control with Lauren Boles, Gemma McGuinness and Orna O’Dowd particularly effective as the hosts were tested by a determined Treaty side.

Jesse Mendez, Lauren Keane Laoise Brown and Emily O’Halloran all battled tenaciously for the Limerick women in an effort to peg back the hosts.

Treaty went close midway through the half following a series of corners, but they were unable to make a breakthrough.

With 10 minutes remaining Treaty forced another series of corners that posed problems, but the hosts survived and countered with Doherty denied by Treaty ‘keeper Michaela Mitchell who advanced smartly out of her area.

O’Sullivan was denied a late goal for Treaty when her effort thundered off the crossbar, but it was the Bit O’Red supporters who were celebrating at the end,
 
Sligo Rovers – Amy Mahon; Leah Kelly, Ruth Monaghan, Orna O’Dowd, Gemma McGuinness, Lauren Boles, Emma Doherty, Aoife Brennan, Amy Roddy, Katie Melly, Sarah Kiernan. Subs – Paula McGrory for Brennan 70 mins, Jessica Casey for Melly 68m, Kerri O’Hara for Kelly and Amy Hyndman for Doherty both 83m.

Treaty Utd – Michaela Mitchell; Alix Mendez, Emma Deegan, Alannah Mitchell, Lauren Keane, Jesse Mendez, Heidi O’Sullivan, Emma Costelloe, Michaela Lawrence, Emily O’Halloran, Laoise Brown. Subs – Cara Griffin for Costelloe 65 mins, Shannon O’Donovan for A Mendez 68m, Eimear Carey for Brown 84 mins.

Referee – Michael Connolly.
Assistant-referees – Alan Dunne, Keenan Deering.
Fourth official – Joe Hession.

Sligo Rovers travelled to Oriel Park on Friday Night in The SSE Airtricity Premier Division.

The two teams were seperated by just a point leading into the game with Rovers in fourth and Dundalk in fifth position in the league table. The two sides were evenly matched in our last meeting on March 5th at The Showgrounds when the game finished scoreless.

Before the game, The Bit O’ Red team held a Pride flag in memory of Michael Snee and Aidan Moffitt who lost their lives earlier this week in Sligo.

Rovers started brightly and had some chances through Aidan Keena and Max Mata early on. Mata got onto a loose ball in the area but his close range shot was blocked by Andy Boyle. Moments later Keena got onto a Will Fitzgerald flicked header but couldn’t manage to keep his lobbed effort on target.

Dundalk went close through Daniel Kelly soon after and they took the lead on 35 minutes when Patrick Hoban scored from close range following Stephen Bradley’s cross which Ed McGinty couldn’t gather.

The hosts had their tales up and made it 2-0 on the stroke of half time. Kelly was played in behind and cooly slotted under McGinty to double his sides lead.

Liam Buckley made two half time changes with Greg Bolger and Aidan Keena replaced by David Cawley and Niall Morahan in midfield.

Rovers tried their best to get back into the game and had some half chances throughout the second half.

Mata was lively in attack with substitute Cawley getting forward at every opportunity. Will Fitzgerald rounded goalkeeper Nathan Shepperd to score but he was flagged offside in the build up.

The hosts had some chances too with Darragh Leahy’s header testing McGinty and captain Hoban also testing the Rovers ‘keeper.

Mark Byrne was introduced for Karl O’ Sullivan on the right for the final fifteen minutes. Byrne and Lewis Banks combined on the right as Rovers’ kept pushing for a way back into the game.

Paddy Kirk’s long throw in four minutes from time found Mata in the box and his looping header found the net to give Rovers hope for the closing stages.

Chances fell to Kirk who shot over from the edge of the area and the impressive Mata who’s header went wide from Byrne’s cross in the 92nd minute and soon after referee Neil Doyle brought the game to a close.

Rovers travel to Finn Harps on Monday at 6pm.

Sligo Rovers travel to Oriel Park on Friday to take on Dundalk in The SSE Airtricity Premier Division.

The game signals the start of the second series of fixtures with Rovers currently in fourth position after nine games. Dundalk lie just a point behind The Bit O’ Red in fifth place under new manager Stephen O’ Donnell.

The sides met at The Showgrounds on March 5^th in a game that ended scoreless.

Liam Buckley will be looking for a performance from the team which he hopes can continue the sides good away record this season.

”As a club we are in a top four position and will endeavour to improve. With five points separating six teams from third to eight, competition for European places will be immense, a challenge we are all looking forward to.

Dundalk have also made a positive start to the season and have added a lot of new faces to their squad, they will also be looking forward to improving and achieving a top four spot. This will be a tough game for both teams. Oriel park is always a tough venue but one we enjoy going to.

Our travelling support will be very important to us and we look forward to representing them with a performance they can be proud of”.

In team news, Aidan Keena is available and both Robbie McCourt and Jordan Hamilton will do late fitness tests.

The game kicks off at 7.45pm and is live on LOI TV and Ocean FM Sport will have commentary.

Last three:

Rovers: UCD (Drew 2-2), Bohemians (Lost 1-0), Shelbourne (Lost 1-0)

Dundalk: St Patrick’s Athletic (Drew 0-0), UCD (Won 2-0), Drogheda United (Lost 1-0)