Sligo Rovers 2 St Patrick's Ath 0:GOALS BY new signings Eoin Doyle and Matthew Blinkhorn lifted Sligo Rovers off the bottom of the table at the Showgrounds last night.
St Patrick’s appeared to be feeling the after-effects of their midweek exertions in the Europa League and they were unable to get the better of a resolute Rovers side.
Sligo goalkeeper Richard Brush gathered a speculative shot by Declan O’Brien in the opening minutes of the first half before a clever cross by Owen Morrison was cleared at the other end.
Gareth O’Connor forced the Sligo goalkeeper into another smart save with a stinging long-range shot after 11 minutes.
A superb save by Gary Rogers in the St Patrick’s goal when he raced off his line to smother the ball denied Sligo skipper Conor O’Grady when he outpaced the visitors’ defence in the 13th minute. The Saints defence was caught cold again in the 17th minute but this time former Shamrock Rovers player Doyle, making his Showgrounds debut, hit the target with a stunning strike.
Blinkhorn sent a header narrowly wide of the visitors’ goal on 27 minutes as Sligo continued to find gaps in their defence.
The Sligo goalkeeper kept a Gareth O’Connor shot out after 52 minutes as the visitors tried to get back into the game.
Blinkhorn doubled Sligo’s advantage on the hour, firing past Rogers for his first goal after the St Patrick’s goalkeeper had parried a Romauld Boco shot.
Substitute Rob Turner almost made it 3-0 for the home side with a sizzling shot late on.
SLIGO ROVERS: Brush, Keane, Kendrick, Ventre, O’Grady, Boco, Blinkhorn (Turner, 84 mins), Morrison (Marshall, 75 mins), McGrath, Cretaro, Doyle.
ST PATRICK’S: Rogers, Maher (Fitzpatrick, 58 mins), Ryan, Partridge, Harris, Lynch, Byrne (Ryan, 72), Cawley, O’Connor, Guy, O’Brien.
Referee: P Tuite (Dublin).
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