Opposition Watch

Eoghan Gardiner

12 minutes after going a man down, Rovers managed to take the lead through a strike from Reece Hutchinson in the box, with the Saints defence having been too static and giving the attackers too much space. It was a well-worked, give-and-go sort of goal, but Sligo didn’t face much resistance from the Pat’s backline.

fixture as the game went on, as Sligo dug deep when they found themselves on the back foot, likely due to the fact they were playing with just ten men. This did not bode well with the Saints’ tactic of putting crosses into the box from the wings.

Sligo Rovers come to Richmond Park tonight looking to repeat the result of the last meeting between our two sides. However, the Saints, who have found good form since that fixture, will be hoping to make up for the 21 loss endured to tonight’s opponents back in March.

Anybody who watched that game could tell you that Pat’s weren’t up to scratch that night and that the Bit O’Red deservedly came out on top. They managed this while playing with 10 men for 70 minutes of the game, after John Mahon was sent off in curious circumstances after committing what the referee deemed to be a foul on Tommy Lonergan.

The Saints did manage to break Sligo down defensively shortly after, with a pass from Ben McCormack finding its way through Nando Pijnaker’s legs to the feet of Eoin Doyle. Doyle then put the ball towards the back post for young Lonergan to finish, only for the teenager to put the ball wide of the mark at point blank range. The frustration was visible from his reaction.

Pat’s did manage to get an equaliser in the 62nd minute, with Chris Forrester doing Chris Forrester things. A pass from Jamie Lennon found Forrester in space, before the midfielder shot from distance, beating goalkeeper Luke McNicholas to make it 1-1. It seemed as if this was the only sort of goal that Pat’s were going to get in the

Forrester had a similar chance two minutes later, beating three men to get a shot off from similar distance. McNicholas had his number this time, pushing the ball away from the bottom righthand corner and out for a corner.

In the 66th minute, Sligo scored what would end up being the deciding goal in the game: After the Saints conceded a free-kick in their own half, Johan Brannefalk cleverly took the set-piece quickly, passing to teammate Fabrice Hartmann who ran into the box unchallenged and put the ball past David Odomosu. All but three Pat’s players (including our goalkeeper) were facing away from the ball when it was kicked. This schoolboy error stopped the Saints from salvaging as little as a point from the game.

Though the above reads fairly dour, it is worth remembering that the Saints have turned their form around since our trip to The Showgrounds. There is, of course, still room for improvement, and tonight’s fixture offers the Saints a great opportunity to prove themselves as a team that can be expected to secure European football this season. You have to be winning these games if that is to be achieved. Meanwhile, it has been a mixed bag in terms of results for Sligo Rovers. At the time of writing, Sligo have won two, drew three and lost two since we last played them.