Resilient Sligo impress again

Vorkskla Poltava 0 Sligo Rovers 0:SLIGO ROVERS left Ukraine with a hugely creditable goalless draw in the third qualifying round of the Europa League last night but will look back on two missed chances which would have brought them a step closer to qualification.

Sligo’s quest for for an away goal came up short as Alan Kirby struck the crossbar and Raffaele Cretaro shot over when one-on one with the Vorskla goalkeeper in the second half.

Jason McGuinness and Gavin Peers were superb in Sligo’s defence as they kept Poltava at bay to set up a mouth-watering second leg next Thursday in Sligo in front of a 3,600 home sell-out crowd.

Rovers made one change to their starting line-up, with Conor Powell coming in for Eoin Doyle;Aaron Greene moved to the left wing.

Roman Bezus, considered one of the rising stars in Ukraine, started for Poltava, threatened early on as he got past McGuinness on the edge of the area and fired over the bar.

Armend Dallku was also very impressive for the home side in the first period, constantly getting the better of Powell.

Rovers had chances of their own as Matthew Blinkhorn, producing a superb opening period, headed on for Cretaro to shoot wide on 25 minutes.

Ahmed Januzzi had two chances in succession shortly after, heading wide close to the half-hour mark and then forcing Brendan Clarke into a smart save.

Bezus and Yevgen Selin kept Clarke busy, forcing two more stops but Rovers were starting to come into the game. Kirby and Aaron Greene missed chances to test the home goal as Paul Cook’s visiting side got to the break level.

The second half saw the current Airtricity Premier Division leaders come into their own. Joseph Ndo helped Rovers dominate midfield and soon they should have been ahead. Cretaro picked up the ball on the right and his cross was parried by Sergiy Dolganssky to Kirby, whose rising shot struck the bar and went over.

Vorskla were left frustrated by the magnificent McGuinness and Blinkhorn continued to pose problems for the Ukrainian defence. With 15 minutes left Kirby’s flick put Cretaro through on goal but the Tubbercurry man blazed over.

But Paul Cook’s men stood firm in the closing stages to claim a hugely impressive draw.

SLIGO ROVERS: Clarke; Keane, Peers, Ryan, Blinkhorn (Russell, 90+3), Cretaro (O'Davoren, 78), Kirby, Ndo, Powell, McGuinness, Greene (Doyle, 63).