League Report: Sligo Rovers 1 - 1 Limerick

Sligo Rovers entertained Limerick F.C at The Showgrounds this evening in the SSE Airtricity League which resulted in a 1 – 1 draw for Sligo with Dinny Corcoran and Paul O'Conor getting on the scoresheet.

It took six minutes for the first real chance to fall for Sligo when a quick run through the middle by Steven Beattie was cut short by a foul from San Harding.

The resulting free was in a great position for the Bit o'Red at the edge of the box but Beattie drove the ball straight at the wall so the score sheet remained blank on that occasion.

Four minutes later Limerick had a great opportunity after a neat bit of play from Shane Duggan; but his final pass off to Ian Turner landed on his team mate's weaker side and his resulting shot went well over Richard Brush's net.

For ten minutes the ball changed sides many times; however it was Beattie who again came away with the best opportunity to grab a goal but before he could get a shot off Paudie O'Conner dispossessed him and forced the ball out of play.

Less than a minute later Turner again found the ball at his feet in front of Brush but quick reactions by Jake Dykes kept the score sheet blank for the Munster side.

After 25 minutes a great run by Beattie up the center resulted in him beating four Limerick defenders and passing it left to Sander Puri who crossed to teammate Dinny Corcoran in the box; and despite being under pressure the Sligo striker buried it past Conor O'Donnell.

Five minutes later Dean Clarke ran circles around the Sligo defence to eventually find Turner once again but fast reactions by Brush kept the Bit o'Red ahead.

Duggan again caused problems for the Sligo defence with ten minutes to go in the half; even causing Brush to come a great distance off his line in a tense moment for the Sligo fans – but the visitors couldn't capitalise on the chance and the score remained 1 – 0.

The ball again changed sides many times in the last ten minutes of the half - but with no one able to create any real chances, the opening half ended with the Bit o'Red ahead by one.

The first real chance of the second period fell to Rovers when Beattie took a low shot at O'Donnell in the 62^nd minute; however the shot was straight at the Blues keeper with the former UCD man smothering the ball to keep Limerick out of danger.

Five minutes later Puri found Corcoran in a dangerous position for the visitors but what should have been an easy chance for the experienced striker fell short, as he was unable to get the required power behind it.

After that the game lost some momentum for the third time as both teams struggled to create chances and while Limerick were slightly the stronger side - pinning Rovers into their own half multiple times - they were unable to make anything of it.

Beattie again was the play maker for Sligo when he had a break away chance in midfield in the 79th minute but his finishing was poor as it ended up going well over the crossbar and out of play.

Two minutes later a free for the home side almost resulted in another goal when O'Donnell failed to clear the ball properly - but Beattie's shot had too much power and swung off target.

In the second minute of additional time Limerick had their best chance of the second half when Paul O'Conor found himself alone in front of the Sligo net but unfortunately he was unable to control the ball, and his shot curled up and over Brush's net.

But O'Conor's efforts were to be rewarded with thirty seconds to go when he managed to guide a header past Brush after a well taken free kick.

So Sligo continue to chase their first home win of the season with their next game away to Cork while Limerick's next fixture is also away to Bohemians and extratime.ie will bring you coverage from both games as they happen next weekend.

Sligo Rovers: Richard Brush; Alan Keane, Gary Boylan, Stephen Folan, Jake Dykes; Kevin Devaney (Raffaele Cretaro, 69), Stephen Beattie (Morten Nielsen, 92), David Cawley, John Russell, Sander Puri; Dinny Corcoran.
Subs not used: Ryan Coulter (gk), Danny Ledwith, Ryan McManus, Gary Armstrong, Eoin Wearen.

Bookings: J. Russell (80)

Limerick FC: Conor O'Donnell; Sean Harding (Jason Hughes, 86), Paudie O'Conner, Shane Tracy, Robbie Williams; Sean Russell, Paul O'Conor (Tony Whitehead, 63), Shane Duggan, Vinny Faherty (Darragh Rainsford.53), Ian Turner; Dean Clarke.
Subs not used: Tommy Holland (gk), Aiden Price; Val Feeney, Sean McSweeney.

Bookings: Willams (39), Duggan (54), Tracy (60), Harding (82).

Referee: Paul McLaughlin.

Attendance: 1,072

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