- Alan Finn
- Sat, Apr 26 2014
Sligo Rovers continued their turn around in form on Friday night with a 3-0 victory over Limerick on a cold and blustery night in Thomond Park.
Paul O’Conor opened the scoring after just three-minutes and, despite periods of pressure from the home side, Rovers secured their third League win on the bounce with late goals from Aaron Greene and Seamus Conneely.
The home side posed a threat inside the opening minute when they won a couple of corners, but could not take advantage of those chances.
Immediately after this, Limerick were already being made to rue not making the most of those corners when Rovers took the lead through Paul O’Conor in the third minute.
Following a foul on John Russell, David Cawley whipped a perfect ball out to the right flank for Kieran Djilali who beat Robbie Williams before crossing for O’Conor to score his second goal in three games.
The impressive Russell almost saw a cross turned into the back of the net in the 24th minute but Limerick were alert to the danger and did enough to clear their lines.
O’Conor turned provider five minutes later when he squared a ball for Aaron Greene, only for the forward to be denied by Shane Cusack in the Limerick goal.
Limerick’s Rory Gaffney showed his attacking prowess just after the half hour when he easily cut through the Rovers rearguard, but the striker could only drag his effort into the side netting.
Seven minutes in to the second-half and Rovers probably should have been 2-0 up when Djilali latched onto a chipped ball from Alan Keane, but the winger was unable to keep his volley on target.
Stuart Taylor’s men grew into the game briefly after the hour mark, breaking forward and creating chances on a handful of occasions, but the away defence was more than up to the task of dealing with the pressure every time.
As the game entered the final ten minutes, Gaffney had Limerick’s best opportunity of the game with a fine strike from the edge of the box, but Rogers was quick to react as he forced it wide for a corner with an equally good save.
Shortly after lifting a shot over the bar, Greene got on the score sheet in the final minute of regular time when he latched on to a loose ball in midfield, breaking from the half way line and rounding Cusack to find the back of the net with a composed finish.
There was still time for one more goal in injury-time when O’Conor squared a ball from the left for substitute Seamus Conneely who fired home from the edge of the box to wrap up a well-earned three points.
Limerick F.C.: Shane Cusack; Patrick Nzuzi, Stephen Folan, Samuel Oji, Robbie Williams; Shane Duggan, Jason Hughes, Shane Tracey, Darragh Rainsford (Tam McManus 60), James McGrath (Ross Mann 78); Rory Gaffney.
Subs not used: Ali Abass (gk), Shane Walsh, Prince Agyemang, Colm Murphy, Tony Whitehead.
Booked: Williams (10), Gaffney (79), McManus (89).
Sligo Rovers: Gary Rogers; Alan Keane, Jeff Henderson, Evan McMillan, Ross Gaynor; Paul O’Conor, David Cawley, John Russell, Kieran Djilali (Seamus Conneely 79), Danny Ledwith (Danny North 76); Aaron Greene.
Subs not used: Richard Brush (gk), Kalen Spillane, Jake Dykes, Eric Odhiambo, Sean Maguire.
Booked: Cawley (72).
Referee: Sean Grant.
Attendance: 819.
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: John Russell (Sligo Rovers).
