Sligo Rovers 1 St Patrick's Athletic 2

  • Sat, May 24, 2008 @ 10:18

Ryan Guy and Jamie Harris were on the mark against Sligo Rovers for the second successive game as St Pat’s returned to winning ways at the Showgrounds.

Guy and Harris shared the Saints goals in a 3-1 defeat of Sligo on the opening day of the season, and they did the damage again last night, as the league-leaders took all three points.

St Pat’s came into the game on the back of successive draws, and looked to be heading for another having failed to trouble Rovers keeper Richard Brush in over an hour’s play.

But Guy struck the game’s opening goal on 65 minutes, with an exquisite finish from a tight angle on the right-hand side of the area.

Conor O’Grady equalised with a header on 80 minutes, but Harris won it for the visitors when he directed Keith Fahey’s corner to the net with eight minutes left.

O’Grady and Pat’s midfielder Gary Dempsey had both earlier hit the crossbar in what was a thoroughly entertaining tie.
Rovers were dealt an early blow when centre-back Mauro Almeida was ruled out through injury. This meant Jamie MacKenzie came in as the only change to the team that defeated Bray last time out.

Nevertheless, Rovers could easily have ended the half ahead, when they were denied three times from close range in the space of ten seconds.

Firstly Brian Cash had a shot blocked on the line by Stephen Brennan before Barry Ryan pulled off a fine stop to deny Murphy from the rebound. Rovers came a third time, but Conor O’Grady’s snapshot clipped the crossbar and the Saints survived.


Next Fixture

Drogheda United / March 29th @ 7:45pm
Competition: League
Venue: Weavers Park
 
Team Pld Pts
Shelbourne616
Derry City611
Sligo Rovers69
Waterford FC68
Galway United FC67
Bohemian FC57
Shamrock Rovers56
St Patrick's Athletic66
Drogheda United54
Dundalk52