Tickets are now on sale for Bohemians v Sligo Rovers in the Premier Division on Friday night.

Bit O’ Red fans can buy here for the Mono Stand.

Kick-off is 7.45pm.

Sligo Rovers wish to offer our condolences to the family of Jim Lynch following his passing on Friday.

Jim travelled the length and breadth of the country to follow his beloved Bit O’ Red.

No journey was too long or game too small, Jim was always present home and away and enjoyed countless conversations with other Bit o’ Red fans.

His dedication to support Rovers was immense throughout the decades of his life and we will sorely miss him at each game and indeed every Rovers occasion.

We offer our condolences to his wife Mary and his sons and daughters Ian, Karina and Jacqueline and all of the Lynch family at this sad time.

Substitute Stefan Radosavljevic netted for the Bit O’Red’s to pick up a vital three points for Sligo Rovers against Derry City on Friday night.

Ruaidhri Higgins’ charges finished with 10 men after Ronan Boyce was sent off late on having picked up a second yellow card.

On their way to back-to-back wins for the first time in over a year and the points that would further pull his side away from relegation worries, Rovers boss John Russell made one change from their first win in seven last week over UCD, Johan Brannefalk coming in for Fabrice Hartmann.

City, hoping to keep pace with leaders Shamrock Rovers, were forced into one change. Shane McEleney, dismissed during their recent draw with the Hoops, was replaced by Ciaran Coll in the heart of defence.

In an opening half which lacked creativity and cutting edge from either camp, it took almost 20 minutes for either goalkeeper to be called into action, although Brian Maher will have faced tougher tests as he easily gathered Rovers skipper David Cawley’s effort from distance in the 19th minute.

Derry’s recent record by the Garavogue has been patchy at best, with their last win in Sligo coming back in August 2021. The Foylesiders were back at the venue their 2022 title challenge ended with defeat to Sligo.

Their first attempt at goal arrived just short of the half-hour when veteran goalkeeper Richard Brush produced a two-handed save to keep out Danny Mullen’s pot-shot on the turn.

The same player could only fire wide from close range moments later, although the very presence of Rovers’ Niall Morahan may have done enough to put the Scottish striker off.

Visiting netminder Maher remained an onlooker for the remainder of the first period as the Showgrounds looked for a moment of class to provide the spark to a drab affair.

Sligo’s Greg Bolger’s ambitious first-time volley was the closest the hosts came to an opener when he skewed a volley wide of Maher’s posts on 38 minutes. This, after trojan work in the corner from captain Cawley, who provided the cross for the opportunity.

Rovers’ Portuguese striker Pedro Martelo fashioned an early shot on goal in the early moments of the second half, with Maher comfortably keeping hold of the former Benfica man’s scuffed effort.

Brush again denied Mullen in the 52nd minute at the far end when the Derry striker released a teasing shot on the turn from the edge of the penalty area, with the 38-year-old Brush pulling off an impressive save to keep the ball in play as this tie showed signs of really opening up.

Martelo was inches away from his first League of Ireland goal on the next attack after he connected well with Reece Hutchinson’s pull back, with the striker left perplexed when his low drive crept past Maher’s post.

Bolger again speculated on the volley from outside the box on the hour as Rovers took to the front foot, but once more Maher was not for beating.

The visiting bench were left incensed in the 72nd minute when Brush crashed into Cian Kavanagh eight yards from his goal-line as the Derry substitute chased down a ball forward from the City defence. Referee Rob Harvey ignored claims of any wrongdoing on Brush’s part.

Derry’s game-plan was thrown into chaos 10 minutes from time when Boyce, on his 100th appearance under Higgins, was shown a second yellow after he attempted to stop a quick Sligo throw-in.

But things got even worse for the FAI Cup holders on 84 minutes.

City’s rearguard switched off for a moment, allowing the unmarked Radosavljevic – possibly with the aid of his hand – to bundle Hutchinson’s cross past Maher from six yards out, with referee Robert Harvey waving away Derry City’s subsequent protests.

Rovers’ Faroese striker could have settled this game three minutes from time but Radosavljevic skied Kailin Barlow’s cross over Maher’s crossbar from point-blank range.

But one goal was enough

Sligo Rovers: Richard Brush; Niall Morahan (Stefan Radosavljevic 79), John Mahon (Nando Pijnaker HT), Garry Buckley, Reece Hutchinson; Greg Bolger (Lukas Browning 79), David Cawley; Johan Brannefalk (Frank Liivak 55), Robbie Burton (Kailin Barlow 63), Karl O’Sullivan; Pedro Martelo.

Derry City: Brian Maher; Ronan Boyce, Ciaran Coll, Cameron McJannett, Ben Doherty (Brandon Kavanagh 87); Sadou Diallo (Cameron Dummigan 69), Will Patching; Paul McMullan (Jordan McEneff 83), Adam O’Reilly, Michael Duffy; Danny Mullen (Cian Kavanagh 69).

Referee: Rob Harvey.

Attendance: 2.491.

We host Derry City tonight at 7.45pm at The Showgrounds in our next League game.

We outline all our Match Night information below:

Turnstiles:

Turnstiles open from 6.30pm.

All Children Under 12 must be accompanied by a paying adult. This is non-negotiable and it is the responsibility of parents and guardians to ensure their children are accompanied arriving to The Showgrounds and throughout the night.

All Children over the age of 12 must enter via the last turnstile on the left hand side which will be sign posted. This new turnstile is for Juveniles only and here they must pay €12 as per Category One fixture rules.

Please have your tickets ready for scanning to ensure a smooth and quick entry process. Any duplicate tickets will be refused and may lead to stadium bans for those in possession of one. Tickets will only scan once.

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. While this game is not valid for season tickets, we ask that you do not sit in a seat with someone’s name on it.

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 CCTV system. The system was instrumental in the club being able to utilise footage from previous anti-social behaviour and, in turn issue this to Gardai and serve stadium bans to some supporters. 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 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.

Flares:

Leave your flares at home. These are not wanted and anyone found with flares will be banned from attending future matches. These cause needless fines for the club, money which is raised by our volunteers and fellow supporters.

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.

All are welcome.

Match Tickets are still available here: https://srfcdirect.com/match-tickets/ . This is a Category One fixture with prices for Adults at €20, OAP and Student and Over 12’s at €12 and Children under 12 €5.

It’s another busy weekend at Academy level this weekend between Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

Our Under 17 Men’s side take on Bray Wanderers away from home on Saturday. The game takes place in Greystones at 3pm. Rovers are second in the group table, two points off leaders Bohemians with Bray back in fifth place.

Our Under 14 side take on Drogheda United away from home at Walshestown FC grounds. The game starts at 3pm also.

On Sunday we have two home games taking place against Longford Town at Under 15 and 19 level.

First up, our Under 15’s host De Town at 12 Noon at The Sean Fallon Centre in the League. Rovers are currently in seventh place in the group, six points ahead of Sunday’s opposition.

Our Under 19 Men’s game takes place from 3pm at The Sean Fallon Centre. Rovers are top of the group as things stand ahead of second placed Dundalk by one point, with Bray Wanderers four points behind in third.

There are no Women’s fixtures this weekend due to International games taking place.

Sligo Rovers take on Derry City on Friday night in The Showgrounds as the Bit O’ Red look to make it back to back victories.

The Bit O’ Red have played out close games with the Candystripes this season, taking three points in the last home game through Will Fitzgerald, a point in a 1-1 away draw and a narrow 2-1 defeat thanks to a Will Patching injury-time penalty.

Rovers notched a 2-0 victory over UCD last week, now currently sitting in eighth in the table.

There are just three home matches left in the season for Rovers with no home game after Friday for a month.

The next home game is Friday 20 October against Dundalk so we encourage supporters to attend on Friday if possible on a big night for the club.

In team news, Mark Byrne, Gary Boylan and Will Fitzgerald remain out with long-term injuries.

Manager John Russell said: “It’s brilliant to have another home game. It was a positive night last week getting the three points.

““I thought we were fully deserving of the win last week, it was great to get two goals, it could have had a couple more and we kept a clean sheet. We want to build on that. It was a different type of performance from us and I was happy with it overall.

“The games against Derry have been very close. They’re a really good side of course and we’ve done well against them this year, albeit we could have got more out of the games.

“We’ll bring a game plan into Friday and we come into it with the confidence from last week.

“There was a spring in the step of the players this week on the back of getting a win. It was a good time for the club overall so to be back in The Showgrounds is great.

“The support we have had was fantastic, we’ve got three more nights here and we want to make them count.

“We know they’ll be behind us and we want to give them something to shout about early on.”

Tickets are available at turnstiles using cash or via card.

Friday also marks the final day for our outgoing CEO Colin Feehily, the club look forward to marking his many years of outstanding service with the Bit O’ Red.

Home supporters wishing to attend this Friday night’s SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division fixture between Sligo Rovers and Derry can buy their tickets online now on the club’s online store.

Tickets are available here: https://srfcdirect.com/match-tickets/

The game takes place at 7.45pm at The Showgrounds and gates will open from 6.30pm.

Supporters can also pay on the gate on the night by cash or card.

Sligo Rovers Women have been drawn to face Athlone Town at The Showgrounds in the Semi-Final of the Sports Direct Women’s FAI Cup.

The game will take on Saturday 14 October at 6pm

With the first ever Women’s FAI Cup Semi-Final for the Club, we encourage all of our supporters to come out and get behind the team.

Ticket details will follow shortly.

Bit O’ Red Manager John Russell and Head of Academy Conor O’ Grady picked up their new Martin Reilly Motors Mazda cars earlier as the car dealership continue to support the Club as our Official Transport partners.

John received a brand-new Mazda CX-5 and Conor a high-spec Mazda 6 – both finished off with the Rovers crest, proudly shown around the region.
Martin Reilly Motors are located in Carraroe in Sligo and you can visit their website here to check out their full range 👇

www.martinreillymotors.com

The lads are pictured with Paul McGonigle, Sales Executive and supporter of Sligo Rovers receiving their cars at the dealership.