DAVE ROBERTSON’S SLIGO Rovers moved up to seventh place in the table thanks to an excellent 4-1 win over strugglers Wexford Youths at The Showgrounds tonight.
Rovers came into this game on the back of two consecutive wins and Robertson’s men made the dream start as they took the lead on 23 minutes through Mr Sligo Rovers, Raffaele Cretaro.
Cretaro latched on to an excellent ball from Jordan Richards, slotting past Graham Doyle to score in his third consecutive game – the first time he’s done so since 2009.
The Bit o’Red doubled their lead just after the half-hour mark with an excellent piece of work from Richards. The Notts County loanee worked his way past three Youths defenders in the box, before unleashing a shot at goal which somehow beat Doyle.
Two became three just before half-time. Liam Martin was well placed to meet a Rovers ball from deep, and with the visitors pausing to plead for offside, the Donegal native lofted the ball over Doyle with ease.
Whatever Shane Keegan said to his men at half time seemed to work, and Youths cut the deficit down to two in the 50th minute.
Chris Kenny’s long ball caused problems for Rovers, and Adebayo-Rowling’s attempted clearance fell into the path of Danny Furlong who caught goalkeeper Micheal Schlingermann off-guard, scoring low to the Mayo man’s right-hand side.
The hosts should have restored their three-goal lead when substitute Jaanai Gordon made a mess of a one-on-one against Doyle, and minutes later the West Ham loanee hit the side-netting after Regan Donelon had missed an open goal.
They had their fair share of chances, and Rovers finally got a deserved fourth goal in the dying minutes when Gordon headed past Doyle from a Cretaro ball after a Craig Roddan corner.
Sligo Rovers: Micheal Schlingermann, Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, Regan Donelon, Michael Leahy, Gary Boylan, Jimmy Keohane, Craig Roddan, John Russell (Phil Roberts, 87), Jordan Richards (Jaanai Gordon, 46), Liam Martin, Raffaele Cretaro (Kieran Sadlier, 89).
Wexford Youths: Graham Doyle, Craig McCabe, John Bonner, Gary Delaney, Daniel Ledwith, Stephen Last, Chris Kenny (Shane Dunne, 79), Andy Mulligan, Eric Molloy, Paul Murphy, Danny Furlong.
Referee: Anthony Buttimer.
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