It’s a quiet Bank Holiday weekend for our Academy with only our Under 14 side in action on Saturday afternoon at The Sean Fallon Centre.
The lads face Longford Town away from home at 12 Noon in the group stages of the Eddie Wallace Cup.
Last weekend saw Colm Jinks’ side win their opening game against Finn Harps at home.
This game will be the final game for our Academy before the mid-season break.
We wish all our players the best of luck in their upcoming exams which start next week.
Sligo Rovers can announce that Club Captain David Cawley will be granted a Testimonial game this August, having spent ten seasons at the Club.
Cawley, from Ballina in Mayo, first signed for the Bit O’ Red before the 2012 League winning campaign where he made 29 appearances in his debut season and has made a total of 296 appearances so far.
The midfielder has won a League Title, an FAI Cup, Setanta Sports Cup and helped guide the club through two rounds of Europa Conference League Qualification in 2022, captaining the team for historic wins over Bala Town and Motherwell as well as the third round tie against Viking FK, where he became the first ever Sligo Rovers to scored in a third round European fixture.
The testimonial will comprise of David’s ex Bit O’ Red team-mates who will take on the current 2023 squad on Saturday, August 12th at The Showgrounds (kick-off TBC).
Ticket information and further details, as well as David’s squad announcement will be available soon.
Shamrock Rovers are the visitors for a Bank Holiday clash in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division on June 5th at The Showgrounds.
The game will kick off at the earlier time of 6pm.
Tickets are now on sale for the game via the below link:
https://srfcdirect.com/match-tickets/
Gates will open from 4.45pm on the day and we ask all supporters interested in attending to buy your ticket in advance online as this game is expected to have a large crowd.
There were four games down for decision between Saturday and Sunday with our our male Academy teams in action.
The Womens Under 17 and 19 teams had the weekend off.
Saturday saw our Under 14 side host Finn Harps at The Sean Fallon Centre at Noon and the lads ran out 6-1 winners in the Eddie Wallace Cup group stages in front of the home supporters with a five goal haul for Conor Whittaker and a sixth added by Stephen Gibbons. It was Conor’s first time to score for Rovers since signing and he capped a fantastic display with five well taken goals.
Our Under 17’s had a strong performance away to Finn Harps in Ballybofey on Saturday afternoon as goals from Niall Kenny (2), Femi, Keelin Mullin, David Jonathan, Reuben Gillespie and a brace from Desmond Rejoice Yabouet ensuring a safe passage through to the next round of the Mark Farren Cup.
Sunday saw two home games as our Under 19 Mens team hosted Klub Kildare at The Showgrounds from 1pm.
Goals from Owen Elding (2), Gareth McElroy and Bridel Bosakani ensured Declan Boyle’s side progressed to the next round of the Enda McGuill Cup, winning 4-2.
Our Under 15 side were in League action and defeated Derry City 2-1 in a tight game at The Sean Fallon Centre with goals from Liam McLaughlin and Riverstown’s Troy Kelly. The side are now third in their group table behind Galway United and Finn Harps after nine games.
Next up for our Men’s First Team is a trip to Bohemians on Friday night, June 2nd.
The Bit O’ Red got back to winning ways on Saturday night at home to Derry City and will hope for another positive result in Dalymount Park.
Tickets for Sligo Rovers supporters are now available online via the link below:
https://away.bohemians-tickets.com/85ee3b48-a92f-4666-b989-c4e4c4086e38/index.html
Supporters will be situated in the new Mono Stand in Dalymount Park.
Sligo Rovers welcomed current League of Ireland Men’s Premier Division leaders Derry City to The Showgrounds on Saturday night and a tight game ended in a big 1-0 win for John Russell’s side thanks to Will Fitzgerald’s early opening goal.
Max Mata returned for Rovers in attack after his recent injury and club Captain David Cawley captained the side in his first start of the season in midfield.
Stefan Radosavljevic and Johan Brannefalk dropped to the bench and Niall Morahan started at right back.
Rovers started the game on the front foot and Frank Liivak raced down the right hand side before standing a cross up to the back post. Derry defender Shane McEleney got a head on it but it fell to Will Fitzgerald who scored his first goal of the season, helped by a deflection of Cameron McJannet.
The visitors tried to get back into it and looked threatening through wingers Ryan Graydon and Michael Duffy however there were little or no chances created for the remainder of the half for either side and it went in at the break with the home side in front.
Nando Pijnaker had to be replaced by Brannefalk before half time having picked up a knock in the first half.
Ruaidhri Higgins made a change at half-time with John Joe O’ Neill replaced by Cian Kavanagh up front.
This helped the Candystripes as they looked to get the ball up to Kavanagh and play off him at every opportunity but Rovers were defending well through Morahan, who went into central defence after Pijnaker went off, and John Mahon who stood tall to everything Derry threw at him.
The game’s big talking point came on 64 minutes when Derry midfielder Sadou Diallo lunged in wrecklessly on Greg Bolger on the half-way line.
Referee Paul McLaughlin felt like it was only a yellow card offence when it could possibly have been a sending off.
John Mahon was booked for remonstrating with the referee in the aftermath of the tackle and it would come back to haunt him as McLaughlin sent him off ten minutes later, much to the surprise of everyone at The Showgrounds after it looked like Mahon himself was fouled when breaking forward with the ball by Ryan Graydon.
Daniel Lafferty was introduced late on for Rovers along with Lukas Browning as Derry threw everything forward.
There were chances on the break with Frank Liivak breaking into the area on 88 and 93 minutes respectively but he couldn’t quite score either time from a tight angle.
Five minutes of added time couldn’t bring an equaliser for the visitors and Rovers saw the game out for a valuable three points.
Next up is a trip to take on Bohemians on Friday night before a Bank Holiday Monday home game with Shamrock Rovers on Monday June 5th (6pm).
There are just four games down for decision this weekend in our Academy.
On Saturday, Rovers Under 14’s host Finn Harps at 12 Noon in the Under 14 Eddie Wallace Cup.
At 2pm, our Under 17 Men’s team take on the same opposition in the Under 17 Mark Farren Cup at Finn Park, Ballybofey.
Sunday sees our Under 19 Men’s team host Klub Kildare in the first round of the Enda McGuill Cup at The Showgrounds from 1pm.
Our Under 15 side host Derry City at the same time at The Sean Fallon Centre.
Sligo Rovers are back at The Showgrounds tomorrow evening as we welcome Derry City in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division.
Rovers come into the game on the back of three defeats against Dundalk, Shelbourne and Cork City respectively.
The visitors are currently on top of the table before Friday’s League matches take place and could drop to second place before kick-off should Shamrock Rovers get a point against Cork City at Turners Cross.
Bit O’ Red boss John Russell is keen to get a result on Saturday:
‘’It’s important we focus on performing well on Saturday night. The last two games we under-performed and didn’t get the results we wanted.
‘’We are going through a tough period with injuries and player availability and that brings added pressure but, I believe in this group of players and staff.
‘’We have shown really good form this year so it’s vital we recognise that, stick together, and continue to improve, knowing the results will come off the back of that’’.
The game is in high demand in terms of tickets with the away section completely sold-out and a large Derry support making their way to The Showgrounds.
Tickets for the home end are also selling fast as supporters look to get behind the team in the latest North-West derby, the second of the season following March’s 1-1 draw in Derry.
Russell is aware of the Candystripes threats but confident after our own recent record against them:
‘’Derry have picked up some important wins lately.
‘’We know it’ll be a tough test but it’s one we’re relishing’’.
We are determined to get back to winning ways in front of our home supporters this weekend.
In team news, Rovers continue without the injured Conor Walsh, Garry Buckley, Gary Boylan, Mark Byrne and Karl O’ Sullivan. Buckley and Byrne are improving all the time and are both progressing and upping their training loads recently with a view to a return in the coming few weeks. Karl O’ Sullivan, who was injured in the return game against Derry City on St. Patrick’s Day is also continuing his recovery at The Showgrounds. Garry Boylan is a number of months away from a return following his pre-season ACL injury. Young goalkeeper Conor Walsh has tweaked an ankle in training recently and will hope to be back in the next couple of weeks.
Striker Max Mata is back in training and could return however, Fabrice Hartmann, who returned off the bench against Cork City is out having suffered a set-back and defender James Finnerty is also still out with an achilles problem.
Gates open at 6.30pm on Saturday and away supporters are reminded that no admission will be accepted without a valid ticket in the away section. There will be no cash accepted on the away turnstile.
Nando Pijnaker arrived in Sligo on loan from Rio Ave in Portugal last season, signed by former manager Liam Buckley as defensive cover for the departed John Mahon.
Since then, it’s fair to say that Nando has endeared himself to Sligo Rovers supporters across the age spectrum with his no-nonsense and effective style of defending as he signed a permanent deal for the current season.
However, it has been a long and winding road to The Showgrounds for the young footballer from the other side of the globe.
Nando completed a ‘tour of Europe’ between 2020 and 2022 on a journey that took him from New Zealand, to Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Portugal and Ireland as he joined Sligo Rovers last year from Rio Ave, a move that was made permanent for the current (2023) season.
A New Zealand international who made his senior debut in November 2019, along with Max Mata, as a substitute in a friendly against Lithuania in Vilnius.
Nando also featured in the final play-off game for the 2022 World Cup qualification as Costa Rica edged out New Zealand by 1-0 for the last remaining spot in Qatar.
Nando celebrated his 24th birthday last February and is delighted with the way his move to Sligo Rovers has worked out as his main aim was to play regularly and that has been achieved.
He was born in Holland (Netherlands), but moved to New Zealand with his older sister and parents when he was three years old.
“My grandmother was Dutch, but she moved to New Zealand after the War and my mum (Marianne) grew up there, she went back to Holland to visit and ended up staying for more than 20 years,” explained Nando.
“She met my dad (Rene) and my sister (Kallista) and myself arrived, my mum missed New Zealand and we went back there when I was three, sadly, my dad passed away in September 2018 after a short illness,” explained Nando.
A link with Sligo Rovers can be made through one of the New Zealand international team’s assistant-coaches, Rory Fallon, whose father Kevin was a stalwart member of the Bit O’Red team that reached the 1970 FAI Cup final and who, in total, played over 100 times for the club between 1967 and 1970.
Kevin left Sligo Rovers at the end of the 1969 / 1970 season and was transferred to Southend Utd and he later went to New Zealand where he coached the national team at the 1982 World Cup and his son, Rory, is now an assistant-coach.
Nando takes up the story again:
“Rory is a good guy and has been part of the coaching team with New Zealand since I joined the senior squad in 2019, I made my debut in a friendly against Lithuania that year, myself and Max (Mata) came on as substitutes at the same time,” said Nando as he outlined his early years and his introduction to football.
“We lived close to the town of Rotorua in New Zealand, its population is around 70,000, and myself and my sister went to primary and intermediate school there and then I went to high school until I was about 15.
“I wanted to play football at a higher level than was available locally and I ended up going to Wellington to the Ole Football Academy, it was a big decision as it was about a seven-hour drive from Rotorua and meant living away from home.
“I was only 15 or 16 and I was moving away from home, it was tough, but it was what I wanted and there was some school involved as well.
“It was football every day and I loved that, there were about a dozen of us that came in that time and I didn’t know anyone, but I settled into it gradually.
“The Academy was connected to a club, Western Suburbs and then there was a move to Eastern Suburbs, there was a Central League title in 2017 with Eastern that earned qualification for the Oceania Champions League the following season by which time I had moved to Europe,” he added.
Nando was selected for the New Zealand Under-20 team for the 2019 World Cup and then made the move to Europe where he joined former coach Declan Edge in Sweden with Torslanda IK, a club run in partnership with the Olé Academy.
“When I was there, I got an offer of trials in Switzerland with Grasshoppers, they were in the second tier at the time and for them, a big club, that wasn’t good,” he explained as he endured a frustrating time with lots of trials.
“I had trials, they offered me a contract, but the Board of the club was sacked and when they got a new Board in place, I was told I’d have to go back for more trials,
“I did the trials again, November time, I was told I’d be signed, but then the new Board took a break for Christmas and I was told I’d have to come back in January.
“At that stage I went home to New Zealand for Christmas, but I did the trials again and in February was eventually signed, Max was there also, I spent a season there and played a few first team games and was also with the under-21s.
“When the season ended in Switzerland I went to Portugal and signed a four-year deal with Primeira Liga club Rio Ave in 2020, the coach liked me, but after a couple of months he was sacked, a new coach came in and he lasted about six games, and then another guy came in, it was a bit chaotic and the club was relegated.
“At that time, I also went to the 2020 Olympics (which took place in 2021) with the New Zealand team and we did well, we beat South Korea and had a draw with Romania, that was enough to get to the last 16 where we played Japan, but we lost in a penalty shoot-out.
“I really enjoyed that, but then when I came back to Portugal, I had a four-moth loan in Denmark with FC Helsingør for the rest of 2021.
“I went back to Portugal, my first priority was to play regularly, I was asked about going to Ireland to Sligo Rovers and I knew that Ryan De Vries, also from New Zealand, had played with the club.
“Liam Buckley was the manager when I joined on loan and I really enjoyed it once I settled in, it’s a tough environment in the League of Ireland, but I want to play regularly and I’m getting the chances.
“We have a really good panel of players and it’s a bonus that Max is also here as we are good friends at this stage.
“I like the place, Sligo is a bit smaller than my home town in New Zealand, but the people are very friendly and that’s a great help when you are new to an area.
“I can speak Dutch and English, a little of Portuguese, enough to get by, but English is the common language amongst us all and hopefully I can achieve success with Sligo Rovers, that’s what I want and I know it’s what the fantastic supporters want also,” he concluded.
The Bit O’ Red are back at The Showgrounds this Saturday night as we host table toppers Derry City at 7.45pm in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division.
Home supporters can purchase tickets online via the link below:
https://srfcdirect.com/match-tickets/
Away supporters must buy a ticket in advance of travel as there is strictly no admission in the away section on the evening without a ticket.
Tickets for the away section will sell-out this morning.
Rovers’ Manager John Russell will be hoping to have striker Max Mata fit again having missed the last two games with a groin injury. Fabrice Hartmann and John Mahon both returned last Friday night against Cork City and will once again be hoping to be available for this weekend.
A big crowd is yet again expected at The Showgrounds for the game and gates will open from 6.30pm on the night.
