Results mixed for Rovers

JUST the four points now separate five positions in the dog fight to avoid the drop from the Premier Division.

An unlikely first win on the road in 2017 for Galway United at Finn Harps saw the Tribesmen overtake Sligo Rovers into the first relegation spot and move to within two points of the Ballybofey side.

Limerick look keen to continue to their slide into the mire as they were comfortably beaten by Dundalk while across County Louth, the surely doomed Drogheda kicked and screamed but were ultimately seen off by Cork City.

The results on Friday night were mixed for Rovers. It was important that Limerick continued their poor run, even just to try and drag them in to the mix.

Galway’s win meant they moved above Rovers for the 24 hours or so at least.

A positive from that game is that at least Rovers couldn’t lose any more ground on Harps.

Saturday was a must win so far as to give us a good chance of staying up.

The win didn’t arrive but that chance still remains somewhere up there with a Micheál Schlingermann drop-kick.

Rovers were slow to start on Saturday against a St Pat’s team who are just a totally different prospect with the enigmatic Killian Brennan in their side.

They started the stronger and created more early on. There were left offs.

Christy Fagan’s volleyed effort which thumped the crossbar seemed to spring Rovers into life.

We began to organise and generate chances of our own but the finish wasn’t there.

Infact before Raff Cretaro or new boy Vinny Faherty appeared, there seemed to be a real lack of a finisher in the team.

Benny Igiehon caused all sorts of bother in the Saints defence but he doesn’t seem to be a cultured finisher.

His play with back to goal was second to none but there was a real lack of a designated attacker to come and take the knock-downs from him.

Ger Lyttle has signed a great mix of power and precision with the additions of Igiehon and Faherty this summer.

But the more finessed Faherty might have been the preferred man to finish off Jamie McDonagh’s through ball in the second half.

Of course, it was Faherty who could only knock the ball over the crossbar in front of an empty net with the last kick of the game, but the speed in which the ball came at him didn’t help.

Faherty has the potential to be a player who can make a real difference to any potential escape from the bottom three.

But he needs game time and he needs the right kind of ball to him. I was at the aforementioned game in Finn Park last Friday where the swap of Faherty and Jonah Ayunga was widely discussed. Galway supporters reckoned they’d got the best deal because Faherty didn’t suit Shane Keegan’s rushed, kick to the corner tactics. While the more sprightly Ayunga, who was one of United’s stand out players, did. Essentially, they believed they had got the better deal so there were a few puzzled looks when I told them the feeling was the same the other end of Connacht.

Of the other new boys, I had expected a lot more of Greg Moorhouse who was muted and never really got involved in the game.

A head injury ended his involvement eight minutes into the second half but his replacement Jamie McDonagh was a lot quicker to settle.

His energy and willingness to both get forward and track back when necessary was encouraging. He also seems to have a decent ability when it comes to crossing a ball. Take note re Faherty..

This weekend sees the club’s latest venture into the FAI Cup.

Last year’s sojourn ended at the first hurdle with a last minute defeat to Wexford at a stormy Ferrycarrig. Things could get just as wintry if Longford manage to topple us on Saturday night.

The game is also a great opportunity to get the gears running again, bag a few goals and get confidence flowing.

As perilous as things might look in the league, I still think we have the squad to maintain our Premier status.

Sligo Rovers is not a First Division club and we now have a squad deep enough and talented enough to go to the likes of Finn Park, United Park and Terryland and beat each of those three teams. Realistically, we’re going to need to pluck wins from at least two of the remaining fixtures. A really tough ask but not impossible.