By Conall Collier
Sligo Rovers will look to extend a three-game Women’s Premier Division (WPD) unbeaten sequence on Saturday when Wexford visit to the Showgrounds for the final game of the season.
Buoyed by the long-overdue first win of the season in Cork last Saturday and draws against Peamount Utd and Shamrock Rovers, the Sligo Rovers players will be determined to take the points tally into double figures.
Neither side can improve on current positions with Wexford guaranteed a fourth-place finish, an improvement on seventh last season, while for Sligo Rovers, a victory on Saturday would see them equal the number of points they achieved last season.
On that basis, there is still plenty to play for and another competitive encounter is definitely on the cards, one that stand-in manager Conor O’Grady is relishing after the determined display against Cork City last weekend.
“I was delighted for the girls last weekend, the conditions were horrendous but we dug in and had a really good second-half performance and it was great to come away from Cork with the win,” he commented.
“It has been a tough few days, we were in Cork on Saturday, some of the girls were playing for the 19s on Sunday and then for the ATU on Monday.
“We also picked up a few injuries, Kate Nugent and Rachel McGoldrick will both miss out while Muireann Devaney is not available.
“It’s going to be a really tough game against an experienced Wexford side, but we want to finish on a high and to do that we are going to have to be at our best,” he concluded.
Last Saturday Wexford surrendered a 2-0 interval advantage, Leah McGrath and Kylie Murphy scored the goals, at home to Shamrock Rovers. They had to settle for a 2-2 draw and they will certainly be well-motivated to address that.
Last May the Bit O’Red conceded three second-half goals in the WPD encounter at Ferrycarrig Park after getting back to parity a minute after the interval as Wexford recorded a 4-1 victory.
The scoreline was a bit unfair on Sligo Rovers who lost the influential Jodie Loughrey on 66 minutes after a challenge from a Wexford player forced her out of the action and also denied what looked like a decent goal-scoring chance.
Wexford hit the front after 16 minutes of a well-contested first-half when Ciara Rossiter created an opening and Ellen Molloy finished confidently to the net.
Kelly Crompton had Sligo Rovers on terms a minute after the resumption, but parity lasted less than three minutes. Some hesitant defending gave Wexford an opportunity and Ciara Rossiter capitalised to make it 2-1 and she went on to complete her hat-trick.
In the last three WPD games Sligo Rovers scored four goals and conceded three, that statistic suggests the defensive frailties have been resolved. There will be an opportunity to demonstrate that on Saturday.
Sligo Rovers v Wexford will be live on LOITV and kick-off at the Showgrounds is at 3pm.