By Conall Collier
Sligo Rovers face the trek to Turner’s Cross to tackle Cork City for the first Women’s Premier Division (WPD) away game of the season on Saturday, kick-off 5pm.
Close encounters between the sides have been the norm, and last season the Bit O’Red achieved a first WPD win with a hard-earned victory in Cork while the Munster women enjoyed a narrow win at the Showgrounds.
Sligo Rovers manager Steve Feeney will be aiming to build on the positives from a scoreless draw last weekend against Bohemian FC as he returns to a venue where the Bit O’Red famously achieved a historic first League of Ireland victory in the debut season in 2022.
“There’s never much between the teams, and I suppose Cork will want to make a good start in their first home game of the season after losing against Peamount Utd in the opener,” Steve stated last weekend.
“They have a new manager this year, and I have no doubt that it will be a close contest, but we have to back up our performance now and show a bit of consistency.
“Paula (McGrory) sat out last week’s scoreless draw against Bohemians; it was a late decision and more of a precaution than anything else.
“Katie (Melly) picked up a knock during the game, but hopefully both will be available for selection, and we should have a couple more players in contention also.
“Hopefully, we will have a full panel to select from, and there is huge competition for places in the starting 11.
“Based on the evidence of the Bohs game, I feel we have a good competitive squad, but we will have to be at our best to get anything out of the game in Cork.
“If we can get another performance like last Saturday and maybe add a little bit to it, then we will be in contention and will have every chance of taking something home with us; three points would be great,” he concluded.
Cork City Focus
New manager Frank Kelleher saw his team lose last Saturday against Peamount Utd as the Dublin women won by 2-0 with both goals scored in the opening 15 minutes.
Saturday’s encounter at PRL Park was a special occasion for Cork City’s Eva Mangan, who made her 100th appearance for the club, and she will pose a serious threat to the Sligo Rovers rearguard on Saturday.
“It was a disappointing start to the season; we conceded the goals in the first 15 minutes, but after that I think we matched Peamount for the remainder,” said the Cork City boss.
“We were denied a goal by a great Amanda Budden save for Peamount before the interval, and again she made a fine save in the 85th minute.
“I’m really looking forward to the first home game now because I think we can take some momentum from our performance against Peamount.
“I think Fia (Fiana Bradley) played very well, and it’s great to see Cathranne (Fitzgerald) in with us, and she had a good debut.
“We were all delighted for Eva (Mangan) to make her 100th appearance; she’s a top-quality player,” he added.
MATCH DETAILS
Cork City v Sligo Rovers will be live on LOITV with kick-off at 5pm on Saturday.