Sligo Rovers vs UCD

Sligo Rovers hosted UCD in the Showgrounds in what was a thrilling 5-2 win for the home side. Sligo had their team unchanged from the Bohemians match the previous week and the pressure was high with the Bit O' Red not scoring in four consecutive games.

The game kicked off but after a bit of passing play from Sligo, a bad touch from Jeff Henderson put him under pressure and his weak pass back to Gary Rogers put David McMillan through who finished calmly on the stroke of 2 minutes. This early goal made the home crowd ever more restless. But Rovers pushed on and started to create chances as Ndo passed the ball to youngster Liam Martin whose shot went wide of the target. Another good chance happened on 14 when Greene's powerful shot was pushed away by the goalkeeper. Rovers were gifted a chance when David Cawleys low shot was spilled by O'Donnell but Keanes rebound was blazed over the bar.

But the home side got their reward in the 27th minute when Ndo passed the free-kick short to Greene who in turn lays it on to Cawley who powered his shot into the net. UCD had to make an early substitution when Matthews was taken off for Traynor with an injury.

Halftime Stats: 1-1
Shots (On Target): Sligo: 13(4) UCD: 3(1)
Corners: Sligo: 1 UCD: 0
Fouls: Sligo: 5 UCD: 7
Offsides: Sligo: 1 UCD: 0

The 2nd half couldn't have started better for Sligo when Greene controlled the ball on the edge of the box, turned the defender and hammered the ball into the bottom right hand corner on 48. From this goal Sligo seemed to up the tempo and seemed to create chances at will. One of these chances ended in an O.G by Traynor when Cawleys hard low cross hit off Tranyors feet and deflected into the net. 2 minutes later they scored again when Conneely won the ball in a good position, played it in to Djilali who placed it nicely into the corner. 4-1 Rovers. UCD looked like they were going for a comeback when some sloppy play in the Sligo fell to Clarke who put his shot past Rogers although there was appeals for handball by the Sligo defence.

But this comeback mood only lasted ten minutes when Ndo tapped in from two yards after a cross from the right by Keane was flicked on by Cawley to Ndo. The game cooled down after that and no major chances were created and after the three minutes of stoppage time the final whistle blew. Sligo move into third
with a game in hand.

Ian Baraclogh.
Sligo Team: Rogers, Keane, Daveron, Peers, Henderson, Ndo, Cawley, Conneely, Djilali, Greene, Martin
Subs: Kelly, Owens, Dykes, Gaynor, Connolly, Millien, North.

Martin Russel
UCD Team: O'Donnell, Matthews, Russel, Douglas, O'Connor, Walsh, Creevy, Burke, Benson, McMillian, O'Halloran
Subs: Barron, Traynor, Coyne, McCabe, Morrison, Clarke, Corcoran

Full-Time Stats: 5-2
Shots (On Target):  Sligo: 22(8) UCD: 8(2)
Corners: Sligo: 2 UCD: 1
Fouls: Sligo: 10 UCD: 11
Offsides: Sligo: 4 UCD 0