The Bit O’ Red host Celtic B at The Showgrounds tomorrow evening in a mid-season friendly at 7pm

The game sees the Glasgow side travel to Sligo as part of their pre-season preparations ahead of their new domestic season

Manager John Russell is looking forward to the game:

‘’We’re all looking forward to playing Celtic B tomorrow evening.

‘’There is a great history between both clubs so, I know it will be a special occasion for our supporters and the Celtic supporters throughout the North West of Ireland.

Tickets are available from 6pm at the turnstiles or online at www.srfcdirect.com

Season tickets are not valid for the game.

With a League game against Cork City at home this coming Saturday, Russell will use the game to blood some youngsters in a squad mixed with Academy and Senior players:

‘’The game gives us an opportunity to look at some of our own Academy players in a first-team environment and how they match up against some of Celtic’s top young prospects.

‘’Hopefully both sets of supporters come out in the their numbers and enjoy a good game of football’’.

Conor Walsh continues his recovery from an ankle injury and could be fit to play some part in the game.

Rovers remain without all other absentees from Friday night, however Kailin Barlow is back in contention following his recent suspension.

Owen Elding, Conor Campbell, Gareth McElroy, Conor Reynolds will be just some of the Academy players set to feature in the matchday squad.

The Bit O’ Red Supporters Trust will hold a fan appreciation evening from 6pm in the their clubhouse, with a marquee also erected for the evening and also for Saturday’s game against Cork City.

Former Rovers’ Player-Manager Willie McStay will be in attendance at the event with a Q&A just after 6pm and everyone is welcome.

The Bit O’ Red Academy had a full fixture list over the past weekend with all six teams in action between Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

First up on Saturday, Darren Kelly’s Under 17 Womens team had a comprehensive win away to Longford Town.

Anna McDaniel was the hero on the day, scoring three goals, added to by firt goals of the season for Lauren Devaney and Lesley Anne Sweeney.

Anthony Elding’s Under 17 Men’s side had a famous win away to St. Patrick’s Athletic on Saturday afternoon, winning 1-0 thanks to Niall Kelly’s goal in the first half. This is a traditionally difficult away tie and it was a great result for the team, who have now won their opening three games in Phase Two of the League.

Colm Jinks’ Under 14 side hosted Bohs at The Sean Fallon Centre on Saturday and both sides played out an entertaining 2-2 draw. Rovers’ goals were scored by Ryan Cunningham and Matthew Gillen in the Under 14 Cup. This now completes the group stages with Rovers finishing with ten points from a possible fifteen on offer, and qualification to the next round confirmed.

Sunday saw three games take place, with two games at The Showgrounds and one game away from home.

At Noon, our Under 15 side drew 1-1 with Athlone Town with the only Rovers goal scored by Oran Murphy who cancelled out the visitors’ opener.

Our Under 19 Men’s team came from behind to defeat the same opposition 4-2 at The Showgrounds with a Bridel Bosakani hattrick added to a late goal from second half substitute Ultan O’ Grady who sealed the points with a header. Bosakani’s impressive second half display was the highlight of the afternoon.

Our Under 19 Women won on the road with a 2-1 win away to Treaty United at University Limerick.

Attacking duo Katie McGuire and Rebecca Doddy continued their fine scoring form with a goal each which leaves them on six and eight goals respectively.

The Bit O’ Red have two Showgrounds fixtures this coming week as we welcome Celtic B on Tuesday night at 7pm in a mid-season friendly followed by a crucial League fixture with Cork City on Saturday evening at 7.45pm.

Supporters are reminded that season tickets can only be used on Saturday night and those wishing to attend the game on Tuesday can pay on the night at the turnstiles, which open at 6pm, or online via the link below:

https://srfcdirect.com/match-tickets/

The games will also see two supporter appreciation events, organised by The Bit O’ Red Supporters Trust on each night with a Marquee erected outside the Bit O’ Red Supporters Trust Clubhouse.

There will be Live music, food and guest appearances on both nights with plenty of entertainment guaranteed.

Tickets for the game against Cork City can also be bought online via the above link or again, on the gate on the night.

This year’s Annual Draw will take place in 10 weeks from today at our home game with UCD on September 16th at The Showgrounds.

There has now been €15,000 raised so far throughout the month of June and in early July.

The draw is one of the club’s most important annual fundraisers with tickets sold for €10 each or in books of ten for €100.

The top prize is €5,000 in cash for the lucky winner with a huge second prize of a €2500 voucher for orthodontic care at West Coast Orthodontics in Sligo Town.

There are also a number of other great prizes including a PetStop voucher, hotel vouchers and more.

You can buy an Annual Draw ticket or a full book of ten tickets via the link below:

https://srfcdirect.com/annual-draw-ticket/

The club appreciates the support of our great supporters with this and all our fundraisers.

With no backing from a wealthy owner and having to fundraise as a supporter-owned and lead club, it is vital we continue to put all our efforts into these campaigns and we appreciate the support of our community.

Our Annual Draw sellers will be out and about around the region in the coming weeks and we thank you for showing them a great welcome.

Tickets will also be on sale at our upcoming games against Celtic B (Tuesday 7pm) and Cork City (Saturday 7.45pm).

Sligo Rovers fell to a narrow defeat following Will Patching’s 95th minute penalty at The Brandywell gave the hosts all three points after a fast-paced evenly contested game.

Rovers came into the game without the suspended Kailin Barlow, who was replaced by Stefan Radosavljevic in the starting eleven, as well as a number of players who remain out through injury.

Under 17 defender Conor Reynolds made his first appearance on the bench and Conor Walsh returned following injury for the first time this season.

The home side gave a start to new signing Paul McMullan after his recent arrival from Scotland.

The game started with both sides looking to get a foot-hold in the match, the first half chance came when Stefan Radosavljevic shot over from a free-kick around 25 yards out from the Derry goal and the Faroese went close again soon after as he was put in down the left hand side before cutting in on his right foot and shooting just over.

Derry had some half chances of their own with Ben Doherty and Michael Duffy working well down the left hand side, Doherty’s half volley went wide of Luke McNicholas’ goal before two further opportunities for both sides as Nando Pijnaker headed wide from Johan Brannefalk’s free-kick and Jame McGonigle did the same from McMullan’s cross for the hosts.

McGonigle didn’t have to wait long however as he gave The Candystripes the lead on 30 minutes.

The striker was played through by Brandon Kavanagh and he kept his cool and rolled the ball under McNicholas and into the net.

Rovers reacted well to this set back and were level ten minutes later.

Former Derry player Daniel Lafferty was brilliantly set up by Niall Morahan, turning two players in midfield before playing the ball wide to the on rushing Lafferty, carrying the ball into the box and firing past Brian Maher.

It was level at the break, but just before that Kavanagh’s curling free-kick from the edge of the area was well saved by McNicholas in one of the last plays of the opening period.

Rovers started the second half pretty well. Frank Liivak got to the byline and his cross was met by Lafferty but he couldn’t keep his effort down and moments later from a corner, Rovers had half a chance as Pijnaker’s headed fell to the feet of Max Mata but he and Lafferty got in eachother’s way and the chance was gone.

Derry brought on Will Patching, Patrick McEleney and new signing Danny Mullen in an attempt to find a winner and McEleney and Patching in particular ensured they found more possession in midfield and carried more of a threat in the final 25 minutes.

David Cawley and Lukas Browning came on for Greg Bolger and Lafferty who picked up a knock.

Patching tried his luck on two seperate occasions but both efforts fizzed wide and over the bar as Rovers defended well.

The hosts were awarded a penalty on 82 minutes. A short corner was played to Doherty who’s shot hit the hand of John Mahon, with referee Neil Doyle pointing to the spot and booking Mahon.

Doherty took the penalty himself but McNicholas made a great save to deny him both from the initial spot kick and the rebound, which he headed back at goal.

The final ten minutes were pretty evenly matched with Rovers and McNicholas equal to anything Derry threw at them but the game was decided in the 95th minute when Doyle pointed to the spot for a second time.

Cian Kavanagh, another second half substitute picked up possession on the right hand side and got past Pijnaker and into the area. Doyle adjudged Pijnaker to have fouled the Derry striker and awarded the penalty which was dispatched by Patching with one of the last kicks of the game.

Next up for Rovers is a home friendly with Celtic B at 7pm this Tuesday evening following by a League game with Cork City at The Showgrounds on Saturday at 7.45pm.

The Bit O’ Red take on Derry City on Friday night at The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division.

The game kicks off at 7.45pm and will be the third meeting of the North-West sides so far this season.

Back in March at the same venue, Max Mata headed Rovers in front in the first-half but the goal was cancelled out by a late Ciaran Coll header to ensure the points were shared.

Will Fitzgerald’s early goal at The Showgrounds in May meant that Rovers took all three points in the most recent meeting.

Manager John Russell is keen for his side to kickstart a run of positive results this July, starting on Friday night:

‘’I feel we got back to what we’re about as a team last weekend.

‘’The key to our style of play is intensity.

‘’You need to play with high energy, work extremely hard, and show a desire to compete and win football matches.

‘’We know the quality we have in our group so it was nice to see us deliver a top performance’’.

The game is Live on LOI TV and Ocean FM will provide match commentary.

Sligo Rovers supporters should purchase tickets online in advance of travelling via the link below:

Russell wants to build on a positive performance and win in last week’s Showgrounds win over Bohemians:

‘’We now face into a big month of July. First up is a tough away fixture against Derry City.

‘’They have some top players and have already strengthened in the transfer window, so we know we’ll need to be at our best.

‘’It’s important we approach the game with the same mindset as last week’’.

In team news, there are no fresh injury concerns from last week’s game with Frank Liivak declaring himself fit after coming off at half-time against Bohemians.

Eanna Clancy has departed for UCD this week.

Garry Buckley, Karl O’ Sullivan and James Finnerty are all progressing and continuing their rehabilitation programmes with the hope to return in the next three weeks or so.

Gary Boylan will miss the rest of the season while Mark Byrne should return in around a month, with the same expected for Reece Hutchinson.

Conor Walsh is back in training and could return to the match squad in the next week or so while young defender Eli Rooney, who picked up an ankle injury in a recent Under 19 fixture, will be out for at least another couple of weeks.

Kailin Barlow is suspended following his red card against Bohemians last Friday.

The Bit O’ Red Academy has six games taking place between Saturday and Sunday.

Our Under 17 Women’s team are first up with an early kick-off away to Longford Town. This League fixture takes place at Bishopsgate at 11.30am.

At 2pm at Blanchardstown, our Under 17 Men’s team face St. Patrick’s Athletic and will look to continue their good start to Phase Two of the League after two wins from their two opening games.

Colm Jinks’ his Under 14 side take on Bohemians at 2pm at The Sean Fallon Centre in the Under 14 Cup. A win for Rovers would mean they finish their group with 12 points from a possible 15 on offer.

Sunday sees three further matches take place with two games at The Showgrounds and one game away from home.

Our Under 15 side host Athlone Town at Noon on The Sean Fallon Centre astro while our Under 19 Men’s team face the same opposition an hour later on the main pitch.

Treaty United are the hosts for our Under 19 Women’s team at University Limerick at 2pm. Rovers have won their last two games and will look to continue some good recent scoring form.

BORN TO PLAY FOR SLIGO ROVERS

That would be an apt description for 17-year-old Owen Elding, writes Conall Collier.

The talented teenager made his senior first team debut for the Bit O’Red against Shelbourne here at the Showgrounds on Saturday 13th May.

That was as an 88th minute replacement for Frank LiIvak, but at that stage the outcome of the Premier League encounter was already determined with Shelbourne leading by 3-0.

The next opportunity for the young Sligo Rovers player came during the last home game at the beginning of June when manager John Russell sent Owen into the fray with 81 minutes on the clock against Shamrock Rovers.

“To make my senior debut for Sligo Rovers at the age of 17, that was a dream come true for me, it’s what I always wanted and it was a very proud moment for me and for my parents also,” said Owen when I spoke to him earlier this week.

“My dad was there and so was my mum (Laura), I also have an older sister (Chelsea) and a younger brother (Conor), they were both delighted for me as well.

“I’ve been working towards making my debut on the first team for the last few years and it was fantastic that I got the chance.

“My Dad is always giving me good advice about how to deal with certain situations as they arise in games, all that is very helpful,” he added.

And Dad is the legendary Anthony Elding.

That Owen Elding would be keen to pursue a career in football was never in doubt.

Owen is the eldest son of a player who achieved legendary status with Sligo Rovers in 2013 with the sensational winning goal in the FAI Cup final of that year at the Aviva Stadium as the Bit O’Red edged out Drogheda Utd 3-2 in a thriller.

Owen was at the game, he was seven, with his mum and sister Chelsea who was a little older (without giving her age away) while younger brother Conor would have been about two-years-old.

“I don’t remember too much about the actual game, but I do remember the celebrations after my dad scored the winning goal,” said Owen.

“I remember the celebrations in the stadium, I think I might have tried to get on to the pitch.

“That goal was really important for the club and it was great at school the next day, Ardkeeran Primary School in Riverstown, Johnny Kenny was a pupil in the school as well,” added Owen referring to his good friend as he recalled winning some GAA medals.

“I actually won some GAA medals when I was in primary school, there was the Cumann na mBunScol competition and also the Mini-Sevens,” he said.

“Ardkeeran won finals in both competitions and I was playing, but while I enjoyed the Gaelic football, it wasn’t really what I wanted and I didn’t join any club or anything like that,” he added.

Displaying lots of maturity when questioned about those games against Shelbourne, where he made his debut, and against Shamrock Rovers a few weeks later, and also about last Friday night’s defeat at the Belfield Bowl, Owen highlighted the hard work and determination of the current panel in training.

“John (Russell) is putting in so much work with the players, we aren’t just getting the results that we deserve, that we should be getting, at the moment,” he suggested.

“I was on the bench last weekend and I thought we were okay in the first-half against UCD, we got the lead, but it was a bit bizarre after that.

“It means the game tonight is huge, I hope we can make a statement with our performance, that would be the best response,” he added.

Between school and Sligo Rovers commitments, Owen has a busy schedule at the moment and he outlined the background to his joining Sligo Rovers a few years ago.

“Next year I will be doing the Leaving Certificate and once I get that completed, I’d be hopeful that I can pursue football on a full-time basis,” he said.

“There is a great interest around the school (Coola PPS) in Sligo Rovers, the teachers all congratulated me after I made my debut on the senior team and the students are all big supporters of the club.

“At the moment I train on a Tuesday and Thursday evening with the 19s and then also whenever I get called in to train with the first team.

“I want to be a professional footballer and Sligo Rovers has one of the best Academy structures in the League of Ireland, Conor O’Grady is great at progressing players through the various age groups.

“When we first moved to Ireland, after md Dad signed for Sligo Rovers, I played under-age with Arrow Harps, that was my first club I suppose and then I went to play in Mayo with Maunulla FC, I got to play for the Mayo League representative team while I was there,

“I came back to Arrow Harps and got a chance with the Sligo / Leitrim League team and then I got the chance to go into Sligo Rovers for trials, it was for the u-13 squad and I was lucky enough to get selected.

“I signed, that was in 2019, my dad was the manager at the time with Alan Farry.

“I played for two years with Sligo Rovers and then got the chance to move to Longford Town for two seasons.

“My dad got a role with the Longford club and it meant it was actually a bit difficult to get into Sligo from Riverstown, but he was going to Longford and it was a matter of convenience I suppose.

“I enjoyed my time at Longford, the people involved with the club were very nice and helpful, I played two years at u-17 level but I really wanted to get back to Sligo, that’s where my friends were.

“I was delighted when I got the chance and I was put up an age group to the u-19.

“I still have another year (this year) that I could play u-17, my dad is the manager, but I’m happy once I’m playing and I’ve managed to score nine goals so far this season for the 19s, Declan Boyle and Barry Mullen are the men in charge.

“I was involved in assessments a few years ago for the international teams at various age levels and I’m hopeful that I might get back involved again, playing in the first team for Sligo Rovers will be a big help on that front anyway,” he said.

Looking ahead to the rest of this season, Owen is really looking forward to one game in particular.

“What I’d really like would be a chance to play in the FAI Cup this year against Drogheda Utd in the first round, seeing as my dad scored the winner against them in the 2013 final, that would be memorable for me, hopefully I’ll be in the squad for the game anyway.

“Senior football is a lot quicker and a lot more physical than the under-age, even the 19s, you just can’t switch off at all.

“Players like David Cawley and Greg Bolger are very helpful when I’m training with the first team and hopefully, I will continue to learn from them and get more opportunities to play as well,” he concluded.

Sligo Rovers can confirm that defender Eanna Clancy has left the club to take up a full-time football scholarship at University College Dublin.

Clancy joined Rovers’ Academy from Manorhamilton Rangers and signed his first professional contract last August, making 16 appearances, scoring once against Cork City earlier this season at The Showgrounds.

The Leitrim native has made ten appearances so far in 2023 however has missed the last month or so with a hamstring injury.

Manager John Russell said:

‘’I’d like to wish Eanna the best of luck on his move to UCD. Having spoken to Eanna last year, I knew this was an opportunity he was likely to take up.

‘’Eanna came up through our academy and broke into the first team squad last year.

‘’This season he has played a lot of games and gained a huge amount of experience.

‘’He has shown great promise for such a young player and I’m sure he will have a great career ahead of him’’.

Speaking to sligorovers.com, Eanna admits it was a tough decision but ultimately one he felt was the right move at this point in his life:

‘’I’d like to say a massive thank you to all the great people working in the Academy and the club for developing me as a player and as a person from when I joined the club as a 14-year-old.

‘’I wish the players and staff all the best for the rest of the season and I want to say a huge thank you to the supporters and all the volunteers for all the work they do at the club and for making me feel so welcome.

”I will never forget my debut last season and the experience I have had in the past few years involved with this great club and I am not excited about the challenge ahead both Academically and on the pitch’’.

Everyone at Sligo Rovers would like to wish Eanna the very best of luck in his future academy and football career and we thank him for his service to the club.