Sligo Rovers 2 - 1 Bohemians

• Christopher Davey
• Wed, Sep 16 2009


A sense of disbelief was evident in the Showgrounds tonight as Sligo Rovers beat the cup holders Bohemians to set themselves up as probable favourites for the FAI Cup as they are now the highest placed League side left in the last four.

The win for Paul Cook's men came courtesy of strikes by Conor O'Grady and Eoin Doyle as their two second half goals that came in quick succession, both with a sneaky sniff of offside, proved to be decisive.

The game immediately sprang into life as both sides renewed their rivalry which has seen them meet in three competitions so far this season, and that extra bite added to the sense of occasion no end.

Bohemians began brightly and early opportunities fell to both Glen Cronin and Joey Ndo; the former when the midfielder broke from the left but was smothered by Richard Brush and the latter when Ndo cracked a volley from twenty yards out, but it was comfortable saved by Brush.

However, it was the aforementioned Cronin who opened the scoring in the 43rd minute when he capitalised on a rare mistake by Gavin Peers in the Sligo defence. When Peers' initial attempted clearance from Cronin was lacking, it fell to Madden who was challenged by Sligo keeper Brush. The ball spilled to the onrushing Cronin, who lifted the net with a simple but well enacted finish.

Sligo threatened right from the off in the second half. Their pressure on Bohs was beginning to show cracks in their usually effective defence, but it was the introductions of both Alan Keane and Owen Morrison circa the hour mark that gave Sligo the power to turn the screw on the Bohs' defence.

The results were shown within minutes of their introductions, as Rovers pulled level with the Gypsies on 67 minutes. A diagonal Matthew Blinkhorn ball set Raffaele Cretaro off as he sprang the Bohs' offside trap. He raced from the halfway line out wide towards goal and soon found himself bearing down on Brian Murphy one-on-one. He looked likely to shoot and just when Murphy's full attention was on Cretaro, the diminutive striker squared the ball to club captain O'Grady who finished from two yards into the open goal.

The Gypsies were rattled and in a state of shock. Four minutes later, a sliced ball by the usually dependable Brian Murphy gave Sligo Rovers a corner. The set piece was delivered and cleared but bounced back into Eoin Doyle, who had just picked himself off the ground inside the six yard box. Doyle controlled the ball brilliantly and, with his toe, knocked it over Murphy to complete a spectacular turnaround.

The inevitable siege then began. Last year's double winners immediately hit the panic button and started hoofing long balls into the Sligo area, most of which were dealt with by Rovers' central partnership of Keane and Peers. Glen Crowe and Gary Deegan were introduced, but they contributed little to the game as they never got up to to speed with proceedings. Chances fell to Jason Byrne and Paul Keegan, the former was spurned when he lost his footing in the box while the midfielder went for the spectacular. Left-footed half volleys are not Keegan's forté, though, and inevitably his effort ended up on the railway line.

The siege was eventually only lifted in the fourth minute of injury time, when referee Declan Hanney blew the whistle to signal the end to another glorious Cup night for Sligo Rovers, who have now beaten three of the top four in this year's campaign, while the impact of this defeat on Bohemians' precarious finances will presumably be severe.

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Conor O'Grady

Sligo Rovers: Richard Brush; Romuald Boco, Gavin Peers, Martin Camano (Alan Keane 65), Joe Kendrick: Brian Cash (Owen Morrison 62), Conor O'Grady (captain), Danny Ventre, Eoin Doyle; Matthew Blinkhorn, Raffaele Cretaro.
Subs not used: Rob Turner, Dean Marshall, Richie Ryan, Ciaran Kelly, Darren Meenan.

Bohemians: Brian Murphy; Mark Rossiter (Glen Crowe 89), Brian Shelley, Jason McGuinness (Anto Murphy 34), Conor Powell; Killian Brennan (Gary Deegan 81), Paul Keegan (captain), Glenn Cronin, Joseph Ndo; Paddy Madden, Jason Byrne.
Subs not used: Matt Gregg, Neale Fenn, Marc Hughes, Owen Heary.

Referee: Declan Hanney

Attendance: 2400