A hero’s welcome Irn Bru Cup defeat for Rovers at the hands of Falkirk.
SLIGO Rovers’ Scottish Challenge Cup dream was over at the first hurdle on Saturday evening as the Bit O’Red were beaten 2-1 by Scottish Championship side Falkirk Bairns.
Peter Houston’s side took the lead on nine minutes through Nathan Austin, before Seamus Sharkey made it 1-1. The visitors took the lead again before halftime thanks to James Craigen.
Ger Lyttle made two changes to the side that defeated Cork City in their last outing. Micheal Schlingermann, suffering with a slight injury, was replaced by Shaun Patton while Gary Boylan came in for Jamie McDonagh who was away on international duty with the Northern Ireland Under 21 squad.
With Bray Wanderers losing 2-0 to Elgin City earlier in the day, the hopes of the League of Ireland were with the Bit O’Red.
The Bairns took the lead early on, when Rory Loy chased down Seamus Sharkey, who was unfortunate enough to slip, leaving Austin free to tap in past Patton.
There were penalty claims from the hosts soon after going behind, when Raffaele Cretaro and Aaron Muirhead clashed, but the referee was having none of it.
Rovers were back in it on 18 minutes. Making up for his earlier mistake, Seamus Sharkey got on the end of a Regan Donelon corner, sending a bullet header past Robbie Thomson in the Bairns goals.
Soon afterwards, striker Vinny Faherty rose highest to nod a Tobi Adebayo-Rowling cross towards goal, but his tame effort did little to trouble the Bairns defence.
The visitors certainly looked the stronger side in the first-half, and it was soon 2-1 to Houston’s men. An excellent defence splitting pass from Muirhead found Craigen on the edge of the box, and he slotted in past Patton to give his side the lead again.
Patton was forced into action again before half-time, when he did well to push away an Alex Harris free-kick.
Rovers fought hard in the second-half, and Chris Kenny found himself in a good position when a Gary Boylan cross fell into his path. The former Wexford Youths man could not get a proper touch on it, though, despite his best efforts.
Rhys McCabe, who once played for the Bairns’ rivals Dunfermline, almost pulled Rovers back into the game with his spectacular effort. Having spotted Thomson off his line, the 25-year-old launched a powerful shot towards goal from his own half, with Thomson just getting a touch to it in order to avert the danger.
The Irish interest in the Irn Bru Scottish Challenge Cup ends just like that, but there will be few disappointed heads in Sligo. Attention turns to preparation for the league game against Finn Harps on Saturday week, with a friendly against Athlone Town scheduled for next Saturday afternoon.
Sligo Rovers: Shaun Patton, Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, Seamus Sharkey, Kyle Callan McFadden, Regan Donelon, Craig Roddan (Greg Moorhouse, 62), Chris Kenny, Rhys McCabe, Gary Boylan, Raffaele Cretaro (Daniel Kearns, 62), Vinny Faherty (Benny Igiehon, 70).
Falkirk: Robbie Thomson, Jordan McGhee (Luca Gasparotto, 81), Aaron Muirhead, Tom Taivo, Nathan Austin (Scott Shepherd, 88), Alex Harris (Mark Kerr, 69), Conrad Balatoni, Tony Gallacher, Cameron Blues, James Craigen, Rory Loy.