Sligo Rovers’ poor home form continues with Bohs defeat.
SLIGO Rovers slumped to their sixth home defeat of the season on Saturday night as they were defeated 2-0 by Bohemian FC.
A second-half brace from Danny Grant recorded a first win in five games for the Gypsies.
Ger Lyttle made two changes to the side that beat Bray Wanderers just five days previous; Gary Boylan returned to the starting 11 in place of Regan Donelon, while David Cawley returned following suspension as Adam Wixted dropped to the bench.
Adam Morgan, Micheál Schlingermann and Seamus Sharkey remained sidelined with injury.
The Bit O’Red had moved to seventh place in table following their victory over Bray Wanderers, and knew that a defeat over Bohs would be vital if they were to continue their push away from the bottom.
Rovers were undefeated in their three previous games coming into this meeting with the Dubliners, while Bohs had lost three of their previous four games.
Shane Supple was forced into action with just seconds on the clock as he tipped Rhys McCabe’s free-kick over his post.
In what can only be described as an uneventful first-half, the hosts looked the most likely to score.
Eduardo Pinceli’s cross looked as though it was destined for the back of the net when Raff Cretaro headed it towards goal, but the alert Supple did excellently to push his effort away.
Sligo Rovers felt they should have had a penlaty just after the half hour mark when Cretaro went down, but referee Ben Connolly issued a yellow card for simulation.
The second-half was far less entertaining than the first, until the Gypsies took the lead.
The hosts failed to clear their lines, before Grant curled his effort beautifully around Beeney in goal.
Rovers had created little in front of goal on the night, and it was going to take something special for them to get back into this game.
Whatever chance they had at 1-0 down was certainly lessened when Bohs doubled their lead.
Another stunning finish from Grant was enough for Bohs to seal all three points - a comfortable win in the end.
Rovers take on Waterford tonight (Tuesday) in the quarter-final of the EA Sports Cup at The Showgrounds.
Kick-off there is 7.45.
Sligo Rovers: Mitchell Beeney, Gary Boylan, Patrick McClean, John Mahon, Calum Waters (Lewis Morrison, 85), Rhys McCabe (Ally Roy, 80), Jack Keaney, Eduardo Pinceli, David Cawley (Adam Wixted, 71), Raffaele Cretaro, Greg Moorhouse.
Bohemian: Shane Supple, Keith Buckley, Dan Casey, Ian Morris, Darragh Leahy (Dan Byrne, 26), Kevin Devaney, Oscar Brennan, Dylan Watts, Keith Ward (Paddy Kavanagh, 82), Eoghan Stokes, Danny Grant (Philip Gannon, 89).
Referee: Ben Connolly.