League Report: Sligo Rovers 0 - 0 Bohemians

Owen Heary's Sligo Rovers faced off against his former club Bohemians resulting in a 0 – 0 draw at The Showgrounds on Monday evening. Playing in their ninth fixture of this year's SSE Airtricity League there were notable performances from Steven Beattie, Morten Nielsen, James O'Brien and Dean Kelly.

It took four minutes for the first chance to fall for Bohemians when O'Brien tried a shot at Richard Brush - but the ball went left of his net, well clear of the target.

Keith Ward took a corner for the home side three minutes later which found the head of Beattie but the chance didn't trouble the Bohs keeper Dean Delany.

Nielsen had the clearest chance for Sligo in the opening ten minutes when a cutting pass found Nielsen in space but his shot had no power behind it and was easily smothered by Delany after a great run down the right hand side by the Sligo striker.

Adam Evans responded immediately for the Gypsies but his shot was stopped by a fingertip save from Brush.

David Cawley and Nielsen put together a nice series of passes between them that cut through the Bohs defence easily that required Delany to dive on Nielsen's resulting shot to clear the danger for the Dublin side.

Beattie kept the Bit o'Red hopes alive for a first home win of the season after twenty minutes when he rifled off a shot from the eighteen yard line - but his shot ricocheted off the cross bar and out of play.

Nielsen had another crack at Delany's net a minute later but his shot curled left of the net and out of play.

For the next ten minutes both sides struggled to create any real chances as the sun went down over The Showgrounds; however the home fans still felt their first home win of the season was still possible and kept their voices heard.

Anto Murphy thread the ball skilfully through Sligo's defence to Kelly at the 35 minute mark and caused a heart stopping moment for the Sligo supporters; but while his shot had power it lacked accuracy and curled low and left of the net.

Bohemians threatened Sligo again before the close of the half when Patrick Kavanagh drove a shot straight at Brush's net from a very crowded six yard line; but the Bit o'Red Keeper watched the ball all the way and scooped the danger into his chest with ease and with that two evenly matched sides went into the tunnel at half – time with the score at 0 – 0.

The Gypsies had the first chance of the second half after three minutes when O'Brien found space at the edge of the box but the ball curled well up and over the Rovers net.

Beattie had the first chance of the half for Rovers when a high cross from Jake Dykes allowed him to head it towards Delany's net after 57 minutes; but the attempt had no accuracy and crept over the crossbar and out of play.

Nielsen and John Russell had the next real chance for the Bit o'Red after a nice passage of play between them; but Nielsen couldn't capitalise on the attempt and Rover's score sheet remained blank.

Alan Keane found himself alone in front of the visitor’s goal in the 75^th minute but his low shot was blocked by quick thinking by Murphy to keep the game scoreless.

Cawley led a promising attack with ten minutes to go cutting through two Bohs defenders but his sloppy cross into the box carried high and out of play – much to the dismay of the home fans.

With three minutes to go Nielsen again had an extremely promising run that took all four of the visiting defenders to clear and stop Sligo's chances of a first home win of the season once again.

The whistle blew bringing to a close a scoreless draw between Rovers and Bohemians after a hard fought contest between the two sides.

Sligo's next league game is away to St Patrick's Athletic on the 24^th of April while Bohemians face Derry City next in The Brandywell also on the 24^th and extratime.ie will bring you all the action from both games as it happens.

Sligo Rovers: Richard Brush; Alan Keane, Gary Boylan, Stephen Folan, Jake Dykes; Steven Beattie, John Russell, David Cawley, Keith Ward (Gary Armstrong, 79), Sander Puri; Morten Nielsen.
Subs not used: Ryan Coulter (gk), Ryan McManus, Liam Flately, Dinny Corcoran, Raffaele Cretaro.

Bookings: Cawley (55), Russell (82).

Bohemians: Dean Delany; Derek Pender, Roberto Lopes, Derek Prendergast, Lorcan Fitzgearld; Anto Murphy, Dave Mulcahy, James O'Brien, Adam Evans (Kealan Dillon, 90 + 1), Patrick Kavanagh; Dean Kelly (Mark Griffin, 85).
Subs not used: Lee Stacey (gk); Stephen Best, Karl Moore, Keith Buckley, Jason Byrne.

Bookings: Lopes (32), Mulcahy (32), O'Brien (45).

Referee: Robert Rogers

Attendance: 1,327.

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Steven Beattie (Sligo Rovers).