Sligo Rovers return to Women’s National League action on Sunday with what will be viewed as a must-win game at the Showgrounds against Treaty Utd.

 Still without a win this season after 23 outings, Treaty Utd will tackle a Sligo Rovers side that they should have beaten when the Bit O’Red travelled to the Market’s Field last May.

 On that occasion the Munster women created lots of good chances, but were denied by a combination of solid defensive play, good goalkeeping by Amy Mahon and the woodwork.

The game ended in a scoreless draw and was a first point of the season for Don O’Riordan’s side, but they haven’t managed to add to that tally in the intervening period.

 With no WNL action last weekend due to the FAI Cup semi-finals, Treaty Utd had a break, but ttwo weeks ago made the trip to Ferrycarrig Park to tackle leaders and title-chasing Wexford.

 The hosts recorded a 3-0 victory with all the goals arriving in the first-half and while there was no surprise about tthe final outcome, Treaty produced a spirited second-half display and will look at this encounter on Sunday as one in which they can achieve that crucial first win of the season.

For Sligo Rovers, it’s a different scenario and one that’s not lost on manager Steve Feeney as there will be expectations of a first win for his team since they shocked Shelbourne with a 3-2 win at the end of July.

“We were good in the first-half against Peamount in the last game, but we faded in the second-half and we will have to raise our performance now for the visit of Treaty Utd,” commented Feeney.

“It will be interesting to see how we handle that fact that we will be expected to win against Treaty, usually we are going out looking for a good performance and the possibility of picking up points.

“On Sunday, we will be expected to win, there’s no point in trying to dress it up any other way, Treaty will be the underdogs, but we know that they gave us a good game the last day and they could have won.

“Both teams will be of the opinion that they can win this one, that should make for a good spectacle for the supporters.

“We showed against Peamount the last day that we can compete, but we only did it for 45 minutes really, that’s probably the challenge for us, to be competitive for 90 minutes.

“We know we can do it, we just have to make sure we do it on Sunday as Cork City are four points behind us and will be targeting eighth position, it’s up to ourselves to make sure they don’t catch us,” he added.