Barker goal denies Rovers first victory
SLIGO ROVERS 1 ST PATRICK’S 1
A 75th minute Michael Barker equaliser denied Sligo Rovers their first victory of the season at The Showgrounds on Friday night.
Rovers went ahead on 34 minutes through Kieran Sadlier, but were later pegged back in the second- half.
Both the Bit o’Red and St. Pats were without a single point on Friday heading into this game, with both managers under pressure to turn their respective seasons around.
Rovers boss Dave Robertson made two changes to the side that suffered a 4- 0 defeat at the hands of Dundalk last weekend.
Jonah Ayunga ( suspended) and Raffaele Cretaro were replaced by Chris Kenny and Kieran Sadlier.
Likewise, the Saints boss Liam Buckley shuffled his pack ahead of this meeting of two of the bottom sides.
Christy Fagan, Sam Verdon and Rory Feely all missing out in place of Gavin Peers, Conan Byrne and Jonathan Lunney.
Rovers started the game well, and certainly looked brighter than in previous games this season.
John Russell played a lovely ball into Chris Kenny early on, but his run was impeded by the Saints’ defence who just did enough to put an end to that attack.
The visitors who, similarly to Rovers, have been goal shy so far this season, thought they had opened the scoring on 18 minutes, but for a timely interception.
Graham Kelly’s shot from the edge of the area was undoubtedly headed for the back of the net, but Rovers’ Mick Leahy just got there in the nick of time to clear the danger away from the goal line.
When Patrick Cregg launched into an awful tackle on John Russell on the edge of the Pats area, Sadlier knew the positioning was ideal.
And so it was. His free- kick went through the ball, beating Barry Murphy in goals to give Rovers a much needed lead after 34 minutes.
The crowd was down on previous games, with 1,087 the official attendance on Friday night, per- haps somewhat due to the fact it clashed with the Six Nations.
Rovers managed to withstand serious pressure from the Dubliners in the second half, but it wasn’t long before they would finally be broken down.
Barker’s excellent volley beat the Rovers defence and Patton in goal to rescue a point late on.
Having faced Cork City last night, Rovers host Bray Wanderers on Saturday evening.
Sligo Rovers: Shaun Patton, Tobi Adebayo- Rowling, Michael Leahy, Kyle Callan- McFadden ( Raffaele Cretaro, 83), Regan Donelon ( Gary Boylan, 56), John Russell, Craig Roddan, Chris Kenny, Kieran Sadlier, Daniel Kearns ( Matty Stevens, 87), Liam Martin.
Subs: Micheal Schlingermann, John Mahon, Mikey Place, Jack Keaney.
St. Patrick’s Athletic: Barry Murphy, Michael Barker, Ian Bermingham, Gavin Peers, Patrick Cregg, Conan Byrne ( Kurtis Byrne, 83), Graham Kelly ( Alex O’Hanlon, 66), Jonathan Lunney, Lee Desmond, Billy Dennehy, Josh O’Hanlon ( Christy Fagan, 74).
Subs: Conor O’Malley, Sam Verdon, Rory Feely, Darragh Markey.
Referee: Jim McKell