- Aaron Cawley
- Sun, May 08 2016
Sligo Rovers dominated Wexford Youths on a miserable night at the Showgrounds to win 4-1, making it three wins in a row for the Bit O’ Red.
It was the visitors who had the first meaningful chance of the game when they threatened the Sligo goal.
This was a wake up call for Sligo as they proceeded to tear in the Youths and their pressure was rewarded as they scored three goals in the first 45 minutes with Raffaele Cretaro, Jordan Richards and Liam Martin on target.
Sligo's first chance of the game came after five minutes when Cretaro's header was met by Martin and his effort was cleared by a Youths defender.
A minute later, Martin had another effort on goal when his shot fizzed across the box and just wide. On 12 minutes Martin had another effort saved by Youths keeper Graham Doyle.
After 13 minutes it was Youths' chance to attack and Danny Furlong forced Sligo goalkeeper Michael Schlingermann in to his first save of the game.
Four minutes later Jimmy Keohane broke in to the Youths box but his effort was deflected wide. John Russell then had a shot saved by Doyle from 30 yards.
The first goal of the night was scored when Raffaele Cretaro collected Jordan Richards' ball, broke in to the box and easily beat Youths keeper Doyle.
At the other end, a Chris Kenny header forced Schlingermann in to an easy save.
Richards got his second goal for the Bit O'Red when he broke in to the box, wriggled past a couple of Youths players and slotted the ball in to the left hand corner of the goal.
Youths forced another great save from Michael Schlingermann as Andy Mulligan shot after mistakes from both Regan Donolen and Jimmy Keohane.
Sligo continued to press and got their reward on 43 minutes when Liam Martin collected a Jimmy Keohane ball and easily beat Doyle with a shot in to the top left hand corner of the Youths' goal.
Sligo started the second half as they finished the first but were caught out on 50 minutes when a speculative Danny Furlong shot took Michael Schlingermann by surprise and rolled in to the back of the Sligo goal.
The setback didn't put Sligo off their stride. Raffaele Cretaro collected a John Russell pass and forced a save from Doyle.
Russell again was the supplier on 59 minutes when his pass in to the box to Jaanai Gordon but he blasted his shot over the bar. Russell was in the thick of it again after 62 minutes when his ball eventually was met by Cretaro but he shot was saved by Doyle.
Sligo had to wait until the 83rd minute for the fourth goal. Some smart play between Rodden and Cretaro on the left hand side of the pitch allowed Jaani Gordon to score his first goal for the Bit O'Red, easing fans' fears of any potential come back from Youths.
Sligo Rovers: Michael Schlingermann, Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, Regan Donelon, Michael Leahy, Gary Boylan, Jimmy Keohane, Craig Rodden (C), John Russell (Phil Roberts 86), Jordan Richards (Jaanai Gordan 46), Liam Martin, Raffaele Cretaro (Kieran Sadlier 88)
Subs not used: Ciaran Nugent, Chris Lyons, Mikey Place, Gary Armstrong
Wexford Youths: Graham Doyle (C), Craig Mc Cabe, John Bonnor, Gary Delaney, Daniel Ledwith, Stephen Last, Chris Kenny (Shane Dunne 79), Andy Mulligan, Eric Molloy, Paul Murphy, Danny Furlong
Subs not used: Aiden Friel, Connor O'Keefe, John Peare, Conor Whittle, Matthew Connor, Ryan Delaney
Referee: Anthony Buttimer
Attendance: 1,536.
Extratime.ie Player Of The Match: Raffaele Cretaro
Shelbourne Ladies kept up their fight for a first Women’s National League Title with an impressive 5-1 victory against Cork City Women at Morton Stadium.
