Devine breaks Sligo duck as City march on
Sligo Rover 1 Derry City 2
A delighted Declan Devine saw his side take a deserved three points from the Showgrounds, coming from behind to secure the win and move to within three points of Bohemians in third spot. It was first time that the boss has tasted victory at the venue, and he
Grant Gillespie returned to the starting eleven, slotting in at right back and allowing Devine to deploy ex Sligo man Jamie McDonagh further up the field. Greg Sloggett had recovered from the clash which saw him forced to leave the game against Dundalk and he joined Harkin and McNamee in the midfield.
City enjoyed a brisk start to the match, with McNamee at the heart of a number of attacking threats from City. Junior had the best of the efforts and his direct running at Danny Kane was to prove a threat for the visitors for most of the first half.
However the home side took the lead after 13 minutes, after Gillespie failed to properly clear and Sligo won a throw midway inside the City half. The ball was worked to Cawley down the left, who did well to engineer a yard of space, but cutting the ball back low into the City penalty area. Banks latched onto the ball and with his back to go, spun and finished low to the City goal.
Despite falling behind, City continued to press and to dominate possession. McDonagh, freed up from his defensive role was a threat down the right. He easily went past two Sligo players and then with a step over let fly with a shot which beat the Sligo keeper but clipped off the top of the bar. Moments later, Toal missed a glorious opportuniy to level when he skied his effort at the back post when only six yards out.
City were level just after the half hour mark when Coll and McNamee combined down the left, with the captain crossing the ball into the box. The attempted clearance fell to McDonagh who didn’t catch his volley cleanly but it bounced into the bottom corner to get City back onto level terms.
The visitors continued to threatened with virutally every attack and Mahon had to launch a last ditch block as Parkhouse went to shoot inside the box. The ball broke to McNamee but the captain opted to take a touch rather than shoot first time, and eventually his effort was saved well by McGinty.
McNamee didn’t have to wait for long to get a goal after a mistake be McGinty. Mahon played the ball back to the young keeper but his clearance fell to McNamee who finished first time to give the visitors the lead just before the break.
The second half had little to report for either side, with Sligo making it much more of a contest, but neither side really able to threaten the opposition keeper. On his last senior game, referee Paul Tuite had little or nothing to rule on in the second half as City expertly shut out the threat from Rovers.
Highlights
Sligo Rovers: E. McGinty: D. Kane (S. Warde 88), K. Callan-McFadden, J. Mahon, L. Banks; K. Twardek, D. Cawley (J. Dunleavy 79), N. Morahan, R. Donelon (B. Morely 84); R. Coughlan, Darly Fordyce; Subs Not Used – L. McNicholas, N. Watson, J. Russell, D. Leverock.
Derry City: P. Cherrie; G. Gillespie, E. Toal, A. Gilchrist, C. Coll; C. Harkin, J. McDonagh, G. Sloggett, J. Ogedi-Uzokwe (A. Delap 94); B. McNamee (M. McCrudden 91); D. Parkhouse (D. McCauley 88); Subs Not Used – N. Gartside, M. McChrystal, R. Boyce, C. Davis.