Sligo Rovers 1

Finn Harps 1

A LATE FINN Harps equaliser prevented Sligo Rovers from earning their first victory of the season.

They possibly could have even earned a victory, if floodlight failure didn’t force the game to be ended prematurely and the FAI will decide if the result will stand in due course.

The hosts came into this game looking for their first win of the season, while Harps had suffered two defeats in two games.

Sligo were in the driving seat from the off, with Kieran Sadlier putting pressure on the Harps defence with just seconds on the clock. Ollie Horgan’s men were forced to sustain a huge amount of pressure from the Bit o’Red early on.

The Ballybofey men had their chances, but they were broken down after 11 minutes when a superb Regan Donelon ball from the left was headed past Richard Brush by Chris Lyons.

The aforementioned Sadlier was causing all sorts of trouble for Harps, and he had Brush on his toes for the duration of the first-half, with the former Sligo netminder saving three times in less than 10 minutes from the midfielder.

Harps had their chances, their best opportunity coming when Tony McNamee was played in by Dave Scully. The former Derry man was stopped in his tracks by the sliding Schlingermann, when really he should have tipped the ball over the former Drogheda man.

Gavin Peers was stopped twice by his former team-mate Brush from extending the Bit o’Red’s lead, with both opportunities coming from Sadlier corners.

Sadlier played in Tobi Adebayo-Rowling early in the second-half, but his ball across the box was left by the Harps defence, and with the goal gaping wide Sligo failed to take advantage.

Harps were certainly edging their way back into the game in the later stages, and were rewarded on 83 minutes when a throw-in found its way to Damien McNulty on the edge of the box, and he caught it perfectly on the volley, giving Schlingermann no chance.

The game was brought to an abrupt end though, as with just four minutes left on the clock, the floodlights partially failed, meaning the referee had to temporarily suspend play.

That was the end though, as referee Padraigh Sutton blew the final whistle after a 15-minute stoppage.

SLIGO ROVERS: Micheál Schlingermann, Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, Regan Donelon, Gavin Peers, Tim Clancy, Jimmy Keohane, Craig Roddan, Jordan Richards, Liam Martin, Kieran Sadlier, Chris Lyons.

FINN HARPS: Richard Brush, Damien McNulty, Ethan Boyle (Raymond Foy, 76), Keith Cowan, Packie Malley, Adam Hanlon, Gareth Harkin (Kevin McHugh, 68), Ciaran Coll, Tony McNamee, Dave Scully (Liam Flatley, 80), Ryan Curran.

REFEREE: Padraigh Sutton

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