Sligo Rovers remain favourites to make their second League Cup final in three seasons after a host of missed chances by both sides contributed to a very poor semi-final, first leg stalemate at Whitehall last night.

First Division Home Farm will doubtless be the more disappointed as they created and missed the better of the openings and can now expect to face a Sligo onslaught at the Showgrounds in the second-leg on December 10th.

It began well for Home Farm with central defender Damien Maher heading narrowly over from Stephen Gifford's free-kick in the sixth minute before Sligo came right into the game and generally had the better of it until the break.

Mark Hutchinson, Padraig Moran, twice, and Steve Birks all wasted opportunities to give Sligo the cushion of a deserved lead before the interval as Home Farm lost their early momentum.

Home Farm once more took the game to Sligo in the second-half and generally held the initiative this time, but once again failed to finish the few chances that came their way.

Sligo remained dangerous on the break and Falcon Rose spurned two good chances before Home Farm's final push in the dying minutes failed to deliver the required goal.