Sligo Rovers 1

Shamrock Rovers 1

SLIGO ROVERS HAVE moved out of the bottom two and into 9th place, thanks to a 1-1 Saturday night draw with Shamrock Rovers at The Showgrounds.

A first-half Sander Puri goal was cancelled out by Gary McCabe’s free-kick in the second-half, but there’s no doubt that Sligo fans will be happiest with the result.

Although there were very few opportunities in the first-half, cards and tackles were not hard to come by. There was certainly a bit of tension in the air, but despite the handbags and penalty claims, only three yellow cards were handed out in the first-half, with Gavin Peers, John Russell and Gavin Brennan getting their names in Derek Tomney’s notebook.

The visitors did go relatively close early on, with Maxime Blanchard heading just over from a Gary McCabe cross, before Brandon Miele sent his shot wide of the mark.

Micky Adams’ men were busy claiming for penalties early on, but they didn’t need one to take the lead. Gary Boylan’s cross was met by Estonian Puri, who headed past Barry Murphy to make it 1-0.

Half-time will have been welcome for the Hoops, but the home fans were given a nice surprise as new signing Jennison Myrie-Williams was introduced during the interval.

As matters on the pitch returned after that bit of excitement, former Bit o’Red man Danny North could have levelled the score-line when he latched on to a Damien Duff pass, but sent it over.

It was, of course, a former Sligo Rovers player who made it 1-1, but it wasn’t North. A superb Gary McCabe free-kick from 25 yards completely caught Brush unawares to level things up.

The Dubliners are now within four points of Cork City in second place.

Sligo Rovers: Richard Brush, Gary Boylan, Alan Keane, Gavin Peers, Regan Donelon, Sander Puri, David Cawley, John Russell, Raffaele Cretaro (Anthony Elding, 71), Jason Hughes, Dinny Corcoran (Morten Nielsen, 71).

Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy, Simon Madden, Conor Kenna, David Webster, Luke Byrne, Gary McCabe, Maxime Blanchard (Patrick Cregg,59), Brandon Miele, Gavin Brennan, Danny North, Damien Duff (Gareth McCaffrey, 78).

Referee: Derek Tomney

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