Rovers are held at home
Bit O’Red go 3-0 ahead but Cork respond to draw
LOI Women’s Prem Division Round 19
Sligo Rovers
Cork City
S3 3
LIGO Rovers’ final preparation before their historic Sports Direct Women’s FAI Cup semi-final this week proved to be a humdinger as they played out a 3-3 draw with Cork City on Saturday last at The Showgrounds.
This clash of the then bottom two sides in the SSE Airtricity League of Ireland Women’s Premier Division was a game of two halves in every sense.
The Bit O’Red, who are now up to ninth in the standings as a result of this draw, had a perfect first-half performance as an Emma Doherty brace and a Casey Howe penalty sent them into the half-time break with a seemingly unbreakable 3-0 lead. Cork, however, were not out of this meeting by any means as they fought back with second-half goals from Laura Shine, Kiera Sena and Alix Mendez to earn a share of the spoils. Rovers boss Steve Feeney named the same starting line-up for the third game in-a-row as he and his players set out to earn three victories on the bounce, which would have been a first for the Rovers senior women’s team. Rovers were well on top from the start and opened the scoring after 18 minutes.
Alice Lillie was central to this goal as her attempted cross earned a corner. The set-piece was quickly taken by Casey Howe who passed the ball to Lillie who floated an excellent cross
The number of draws recorded so far by Sligo Rovers in this season’s Women’s Premier Division.
RESULTS
Played on Saturday, October 7
THE SHOWGROUNDS: Sligo Rovers (3) 3 (Emma Doherty 2, Casey Howe pen), Cork City (0) 3 (Laura Shine, Kiera Sena, Alix Mendez)
FIXTURES
Saturday, October 14
SEMI-FINAL: Sligo Rovers v Athlone Town (The Showgrounds, 6pm)
Wednesday, October 18
ROUND 20: Shelbourne v Sligo Rovers (Tolka Park, 7.45pm)
Friday, October 20
Monday, October 23
Saturday, October 28
Saturday, November 4
ROUND 21: Sligo Rovers v DLR Waves (The Showgrounds, 5pm)
ROVERS’ GOALSCORERS
MEN’S SENIOR TEAM
Max Mata* (11 PD, 1 FAIC); Stefan Radosavljevic (4 PD); Fabrice Hartmann (3 PD); Danny Lafferty (2 PD), Kailin Barlow (2 PD); 1 GOAL (ALL IN THE MEN’S PREMIER DIVISION): Lukas Browning, Reece Hutchinson, Eanna Clancy*, Greg Bolger, Will Fitzgerald, Niall Morahan, Johan Brannefalk, Pedro Martelo.
KEY: PD (Men’s Premier Division), FAIC (Sports Direct Men’s FAI Cup)
*No longer at the club
WOMEN’S SENIOR TEAM
Emma Doherty (6 WPD, 5 FAIC, 1 AIC); 11 GOALS: Casey Howe (5 WPD, 5 FAIC, 1 AIC); 3 GOALS: Sarah Kiernan (2 WPD, 1 AIC); 2 GOALS: Jodie Loughrey (1 WPD, 1 FAIC), Paula McGrory (2 WPD); Emma Hansberry (1 WPD); Amy Hyndman (1 FAIC), Keri Loughrey (1 WPD)
KEY: WPD (Women’s Premier Division); FAIC (Sports Direct Women’s FAI Cup); AIC (Avenir Sports Women’s All-Island
Diff +25 +29 +28 +7 -4 +6 +20 -15 -27 -31 -38