By Conall Collier
On the road again for Sligo Rovers with successive away games in the Women’s Premier Division as the action resumes following the international break last weekend.
This time around it’s a journey to Limerick to tackle a high-flying Treaty Utd side that will harbour aspirations of top spot if other results are favourable and they manage a victory against the Bit O’Red.
The challenge will not be lost on manager Steve Feeney, who commented after a 5-1 reversal last time out in Wexford: “In fairness to the players, they kept creating chances and had Wexford under a fair bit of pressure, but they held us off, and then we had Amber (Hardy) sent off, which I thought was a bit harsh, as it was a fair challenge for the ball,” he suggested.
That Wexford game was the first start of the season for Amber Hardy, but she will miss out on Saturday due to suspension, and that will pave the way for Bonnie McKiernan to return between the posts for her fourth start of the season.
“This is a hugely competitive league, but once we keep focused and concentrate on doing the best we can, I have no doubt that we will start to pick up points,” added Steve, and that outlook will be crucial for 90 minutes at the Markets Field on Saturday.
Home wins against Waterford and Cork and an away victory against bottom-of-the-table DLR Waves have Treaty sitting joint-second, and they will be aiming to maintain an unbeaten run at the Markets Field.
However, a 4-1 defeat at Tallaght Stadium upset the run and they will be focused on maximum points on Saturday.
On the plus side for Sligo Rovers is the fact that in each game this season lots of goal opportunities have been created, and that was evident last time out against Wexford, where Mairead McIntyre’s superb strike got them back into the game.
Unfortunately, on that occasion, Wexford countered inside 60 seconds, and it’s that aspect of the team’s performance that will have to be addressed, starting on Saturday.
Kick-off at the Markets Field is at 3pm, and the game is live on LOITV.