- Aaron Cawley
- Sat, Jul 04 2015
On a sunny evening at the Showgrounds Sligo Rovers and Galway United played out an entertaining encounter.
It was Sligo Rovers who started the better of the two teams and Gavin Peers saw his header go over the bar after five just minutes when he met a Danny Ledwith free kick.
That early scare proved to be a wake up call for Galway United and it was them who took the lead after nine minutes when ex Rovers player Ryan Connolly met Jake Keegan’s cross to beat Richard Brush in the Rovers goal.
The lead didn't last for long though as Dinny Corcoran scored his eighth goal of the season after sixteen minutes to level things up after confusion in the Galway box.
Sligo pushed for a second and were nearly rewarded on twenty minutes as Morten Neilsen met Dinny Corcoran’s cross only for the header to go narrowly wide.
Next it was Galway’s turn to attack and it was Ryan Connolly who was proving a thorn in his ex-club's side as he met an Enda Curran pass on twenty four minutes only to see it go narrowly wide.
Galway’s next chance fell to Enda Curran after Rovers were caught out in defence and his shot was saved by Richard Brush, the resulting corner saw Stephen Walsh smash the ball against the post.
In what was a helter skelter second half it again was Sligo Rovers who started off the better of the two teams.
An Alan Keane ball into the box which was met by Gavin Peers and Dinny Corcoran couldn't add the finish to the cross.
Eoin Wearen picked up a booking for simulation not long into the second half and then a couple of minutes later Sligo almost scored but Galway’s David O Leary cleared a Dinny Corcoran effort off the line.
Rovers were forced into a substitution moments later when Danny Ledwith was forced from the field to be replaced by Regan Donelon.
It was Sligo now who were controlling the game and on the hour mark Eoin Wearen headed over from a corner after a Sander Puri cross into the box was put out for a corner.
As the game continued to progress both teams made changes with Rovers replacing Morten Neilsen with Gary Armstrong and Galway replacing Kevin Garcia and Enda Curran with Gary Shanahan and Padraic Cunningham respectively.
With just over ten minutes to go it was Galway’s time to attack and again Ryan Connolly was the man who was in the thick of it as his cross was met by Jake Keegan but Richard Brush made the save.
With five minutes left in the game Rovers attempted to turn the screw as goalscorer Dinny Corcoran and substitute Keith Ward both had chances to win the game but found their efforts lacked the necessary edge to beat Conor Winn in the United net..
Sligo Rovers: Richard Brush, Danny Ledwith (Reagan Donelon 54) Gavin Peers,Gary Boylan, Alan Keane, Raffaele Cretaro (Keith Ward 75), David Cawley, Sander Puri, Eoin Wearen, Morten Neilsen (Gary Armstrong 67), Dinny Corcoran.
Subs Not Used: Ryan Coulter, Jake Dykes, Liam Flatley, Ryan Mc Manus
Galway United: Conor Winn, Paul Sinnott, Mark Ludden, Stephen Walsh, Colm Horgan, Ryan Connolly, David O Leary, Alex Byrne, Jake Keegan, Enda Curran (Padraic Cunningham 67), Kevin Garcia (Gary Shanghai 67)
Subs Not Used: Ger Hanley, Cormac Rafferty, Killian Cantwell, Colm O’Donovan, Conor Barry.
Attendance: 1,698
ExtraTime.ie Man Of The Match: Gavin Peers
