Hello, and welcome to this evening’s liveblog.

Ian Baraclough’s side will surely be tested tonight, in what looks a tough fixture away to Derry, as they bid to continue their excellent season so far.

Here are tonight’s teams:

Derry: Doherty, McCallion, McCaffrey, McBride, S.McEleney, Morrison, Molloy, Higgins, P.McEleney, McDaid, Murphy.

Sligo: Rogers, Keane, Gaynor, Peers, McGuinness, Boco, Ventre, Cawley, Ndo, Quigley, Cretaro.

RTE’s Pat Dolan says he “fancies” Derry tonight, emphasising that it’s “a massive game” for Sligo.

Sligo of course are without their free-scoring striker Danny North, who is suspended for tonight. With his extra time off, the player got a chance to speak to us earlier today.

We’re underway…

A pinpoint corner finds the head of Mark Quigley who heads it across the goal, and narrowly wide, emphasising Sligo’s promising start to this game.

Derry, on the other hand, look apprehensive, perhaps partially owing to a lack of confidence caused by five losses already at home this season.

Not much to report on so far aside from that Quigley header.

The game lacks any real flow at the moment – it’s been very stop-start, with neither side really imposing themselves on the game as of yet.

McCaffrey attempts to deliver a cross into the box, but – not for the first time as far as the home side are concerned – it’s a woeful attempt that drifts harmlessly over the bar.

Sligo players appeal for a penalty, as Cretaro falls to the ground in the box after the ball is lofted in his direction.

The referee waves play on and it’s the correct decision, as there seemed to be minimal contact on him judging by replays.

Sligo, however, are starting to look more dangerous, as they finally develop some momentum in their attack play.

“When [Derry] get the ball, they’re surrounded by blue shirts,” notes RTE’s Damien Richardson, pointing out the containing game that the visitors have impressively implemented thus far.

It has not been the best of games by any means, quality-wise, so far. Both sides have given the ball away cheaply on a consistent basis.

Perhaps the customary excuse about players being intimidated by the TV cameras applies in this case.

And as I type, a clearly frustrated Morrison is booked for a late challenge on Ventre.

Sligo continue to probe and have had one or two half chances, without really showing the requisite incision to harm Derry, who increasingly find themselves penned back into their own half.

Meanwhile, Boco makes it a booking apiece for the sides, as he is penalised for a nasty sliding challenge on his opponent.

As well as Derry have played from a defensive viewpoint, they surely cannot continue this approach if they want to get anything from this game.

Though Sligo have yet to create a real chance, their considerably superior possession would suggest that they’ll eventually open their opponents up, as Derry are likely to tire as the game progresses, owing to the amount of time they’ve spent chasing the ball.

Alan Keane has been forced to go off injured, with Seamus Conneely set to come on in his stead.

Danny Ventre is penalised for a late challenge on Rory Higgins, and the Derry man hits the ground awkwardly, banging the pitch in anguish thereafter.

Ventre becomes the fourth player to be booked, while Higgins, after receiving some attention, looks as if he’ll be okay to continue.

A rare chance for Derry, as a dangerous ball in finds Higgins, whose looping header goes marginally over.

A goal there would have been extremely cruel on Sligo, who have been the superior side in this first half by far.

HALF-TIME: DERRY CITY 0-0 SLIGO ROVERS

So it’s half-time, and it has not been the most entertaining game of all time.

Sligo have been the better side, but have rarely threatened to carve out any real openings.

Derry, meanwhile, have been disciplined at the back, but can take few other positives from that first half, given their consistently limp attack.

RTE’s Pat Dolan emphasises that Derry haven’t had a shot on target, describing their performance as “not good enough” – an assertion that is difficult to argue against, given their patent lack of quality in the first 45 minutes.

Elsewhere, this just happened…

The second half has begun…

Sligo appear to have switched to a 4-5-1 formation for the second half, with Joseph Ndo playing just behind the lone striker (Cretaro) and the ineffectual Quigley moving to the wing.

It’ll be interesting to see what effect (if any) Ian Baraclough’s tactical changes will have.

Meanwhile, an underhit backpass forces Rogers to rush out of his goal, and the goalkeeper manages to get to the ball just ahead of the onrushing Murphy. Sloppy start to the second half from Sligo.

Great attempt from Quigley, who has been very quiet up until now.

The player’s curling shot from just outside the box forces Doherty’s fingertips to intervene, as the goalkeeper athletically dives to touch it just over the bar.

GOAL FOR SLIGO!

David Cawley’s bullet shot takes a wicked deflection, and the ball eludes the despairing dive of Doherty as a result, and finds the back of the net.

Despite the somewhat fortuitous circumstances surrounding it, that goal is more than Sligo deserve based on the balance of play in the opening hour of this game.

Boco threatens to make it two, as his rasping shot is deflected onto the outside of the post and wide, after good work from the improving Quigley to set him up.

There’s still half an hour to play, but at the moment it’s hard to see a way back into this game for Derry, owing to their lifeless display thus far.

Although, as I type, McBride heads just wide from a corner.

GOAL FOR DERRY!

Out of nowhere, Conor Murphy plays a sublime through ball to David McDaid, who coolly dinks it over the goalkeeper and into the net.

It’s a goal Derry scarcely deserve, but it’s hard not to admire the execution nonetheless.

With nothing to lose, Derry belatedly started to play some fine football.

It’ll be an interesting test of their character now, as to whether they opt to go back into their shells or continue to play with the shackles off.

Sligo, meanwhile, have been noticeably lacklustre since the equaliser.

(The opposition have not given Ramauld Boco an easy ride this evening - INPHO/Margaret McLaughlin)

With ten minutes remaining, the pressure on the Derry goal has intensified once more. However, as has been the case for most of this game, Sligo are finding it very difficult to create clear-cut chances.

Meanwhile, a debutant has been replaced by another debutant for Derry, as ex-Finn Harps man Marc Brolly comes on for Conor Murphy, who can be satisfied with his first game, having exquisitely set up his side’s goal.

GOAL FOR SLIGO!

Boco calmly curls the ball in after a clever pull back from Conneely, and Quigley meets it with an excellent strike, hammering an unstoppable shot into the net, and going someway towards repaying the faith that the Sligo management have shown in him in the process. Who needs Danny North?

We’re into stoppage time. It looks like Sligo have secured another vital and hard-earned victory to at least temporarily extend their lead at the top of the table to seven points.

Goalscorer David Cawley has been named as Man of the Match by RTE’s Damien Richardson.

The commentator describes him as “an unsung hero” in the Sligo team.

FULL-TIME: DERRY 1-2 SLIGO

RTE’s Pat Dolan calls it a “big day” for Sligo.

Meanwhile, in a brief post-match interview, Man of the Match David Cawley emphasises the importance of the result and says it’s “not easy to get a win at the Brandywell,” although Sligo certainly know how to get one, given that they haven’t been beaten there since July 2007.

In summary, Sligo undoubtedly deserve their victory. Aside from a brief period after Derry scored in the second half, the visitors were clearly the better team.

Moreover, Sligo adopted a far more adventurous style than their opponents for the majority of the game despite being the away side, simultaneously showing a level of ingenuity to change their tactical approach when things weren’t working out, in addition to displaying strong character to recover from the setback of that Derry equaliser.

The hosts, on the hand, adhered to a disappointingly negative style of play for most of the game. Their superbly executed goal was consequently an anomaly in what was a largely underwhelming performance.

Alright, that’s all from me for now. Stay tuned though, as we’ll be bringing you a full round-up of tonight’s Airtricity League action.