Sligo hit top form to shock champs

SLIGO Rovers handed Dundalk their second defeat on the spin as the Bit O’Red bounced back from recent indifferent form of their own to beat the champions at the Showgrounds. The less fancied Sligo hit the lead with just 27 seconds played with Ronan Coughlan combining with full back Lewis Banks on the left. Banks’ cross was perfect for Parkes as he coolly slotted past Gary Rogers. Sligo’s busy start was brought to a sudden halt when Kyle McFadden handled the ball inside the area and Pat Hoban clipped the subsequent penalty down the middle. Rovers calmed a brief Dundalk purple patch and took the lead again before the break with Parkes flicking David Cawley’s corner towards the back post where Leverock was on hand to head past Rogers for his second goal of the year. A disjointed Dundalk struggled to find a way past a solid Rovers. Fordyce was denied by a superb save from Rogers, the Meath native pushing the Rovers attacker’s looping header over the Dundalk crossbar mid-way through the second period. Meanwhile, John Mountney’s first time volley was simple for Beeney to hold on to as the champions pressed late on.

SLIGO ROVERS: Mitchell Beeney; Johnny Dunleavy, Dante Leverock, John Mahon, Lewis Banks; Kyle Callan-McFadden; David Cawley, Jack Keaney (Niall Morahan 89); Daryl Fordyce; Ronan Coughlan; Romeo Parkes (Kris Twardek 73). Scorers: Parkes, Leverock. Dundalk: Gary Rogers; Sean Gannon, Brian Gartland (John Mountney HT), Daniel Cleary, Dane Massey; Daniel Kelly (George Kelly 62), Sean Murray (Joe McKee 68), Sean Hoare, Jamie McGrath, Michael Duffy; Patrick Hoban. Scorer: Hoban.

Referee: Rob Rogers.