SOCCER: Sligo Rovers 0 Vorskla 2SLIGO ROVERS' hopes of progressing to the next round of the Europa League were dashed in the opening 15 minutes of this third-round qualifying second leg tie at the Showgrounds yesterday,
Paul Cook’s side were caught cold at the back as Vorskla Poltava struck for two quickfire goals inside a minute.
Serhiy Zakarlyuka unhinged the Sligo defence on 15 minutes to slot the ball home and the home side were still reeling from that setback when Pavel Rebenok drilled the ball past Brendan Clarke to silence the 3,450-strong crowd, who created an electric atmosphere at the resplendent venue.
Joseph Ndo and Matthew Blinkhorn made some good runs for Sligo, whose best chance of the first half came in the 27th minute when a free kick by Ndo caused panic in the Poltava defence – but no Sligo player was able to turn the ball into the net from in front of goal.
Blinkhorn had a chance in the 36th minute from Alan Kirby’s clever ball but the striker was unable to capitalise.
The Sligo defence dealt capably with Zakarlyuka’s free-kick at the start of the first half as Poltava pressed Cook’s side back in their own half.
The Sligo goalkeeper had to come off his line quickly to foil Rebenok after five minutes.
A great move by the visitors came to nothing when Jovan Markosi shot wide in the 10th minute as the Ukrainians exerted heavy pressure on the home side.
But Sligo were left with a mountain to climb when Poltava carved the defence open twice in the space of 60 seconds.
Armend Dallku had a couple of shots at goal early in the second half as the visitors took up where they left off in the first half.
Ndo was Rovers’ busiest and most influential player over the 90 minutes but even the Cameroon international’s silken skills and dedication to the cause couldn’t keep his side in the European competition.
Poltava almost had a third goal in the 67th minute as Vasylj Sachlo broke clear only to blast his effort narrowly wide.
The visitors could afford the luxury of leaving Ukrainian under-21 striker Roman Bezus on the bench for most of the game as they were in control of the tie.
Cook’s side gave it their best shot throughout but they were unable to match the visitors’ skilful play and their use of the open spaces at the Showgrounds, where they had Rovers stretched for long periods.
SLIGO ROVERS:Clarke, Ventre, Powell, Peers, McGuinness, Ryan, Greene, Kirby, Cretaro, Blinkhorn, Ndo, Subs: Doyle for Greene (55 mins),Dillon for Blinkhorn (69 mins), Russell for Cretaro (69 mins).
VORSKLA POLTAVA:Dolhanskiy, Dallku, Krasnoperov, Markosi, Krivosheenko, Zakarlyuka, Selin, Chesnakov, Kurylov, Rebenok, Sachlo, Subs: Oberomno for Za\karlyuka (half-time), Bezus for Sachlo (68 mins).
Referee: Emir Aleckovic, (Bosnia).
