LEAGUE OF IRELAND PREMIER DIVISION/Sligo Rovers 1 Shamrock Rovers 1:JAMES CHAMBERS scored from the penalty spot as Shamrock Rovers salvaged a well-deserved point at the Showgrounds on Saturday night.
The visitors enjoyed the lion’s share of possession over the 90 minutes but it was the home side who went in front when former Hoops player Eoin Doyle beat goalkeeper Alan Mannus from close range from an inswinging ball by Richie Ryan.
Shamrock Rovers’ persistence paid off after 64 minutes when Cork referee Anthony Buttimer awarded a penalty for hand ball following a free-kick from just outside the box. Chambers, who had taken the original free-kick, coolly converted from the sport
Sligo manager Paul Cooke was happy with the point against “a strong team who pressed us a lot especially in the second half. We have to accept it and move on.
“We should all stand behind the league and promote it and get rid of all the negativity, it’s a good league” said Cooke.
“The game could have gone either way” said Shamrock Rovers manager Michael O’Neill. “We came out on top in the second half but we are disappointed as we came here to win.”
O’Neill said his team were “a little bit short at the moment” and he hoped that star striker Gary Twigg would soon return from injury.
The start of the game was delayed for almost 10 minutes as fans queued outside the gates in the Showgrounds’ biggest crowd for years of 2,800.
Both sides had chances to go on and win the game. Billy Dennehy missed a chance for the visitors three minutes into stoppage time and a Matthew Blinkhorn shot caused panic in the away team’s defence seconds before the end.
SLIGO ROVERS: Brush, Whelan, Davoren, Peers, Keane, Ventre, McCabe (McCabe, 88), Ryan (O’Grady, 70), Blinkhorn, Amond (Doninger, 70), Doyle.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Mannus, Murray, Flynn, Price, Chambers, Bradley (Baker, 55, Kavanagh, 66), Rice, Murphy, Barrett (Cahill, 88), O’Connor.
Referee: A Buttimer (Cork).
