SLIGO ROVERS ARE just 90 minutes away from booking their place in the Europa League play-off round after they battled to a hard-fought 0-0 draw away to Ukranian side Vorskla Poltava this evening.
And the Bit O’Red may even feel that they deserve to be in front as they twice had the ball in the net, only to see both goals chalked off by the Lithuanian referee.
Paul Cook’s men did well to weather a period of early pressure as Poltava settled quickest, moving the ball well without really testing Brendan Clarke in the Sligo goal.
It was Ukranian U21 striker Roman Bezus who created the clearest chance of the opening exchanges, forcing Clarke to tip his low drive around the post in the 26th minute.
That chance seemed to spur the home side on and Clarke had to react smartly to deny Bezus again on the half-hour mark.
Defender Jason McGuinness thought that he had given Sligo the lead in the 32nd minute when he bundled a corner into the net after some sloppy handling by Serhiy Velychko, only to see referee Gediminas Mažeika signal that the goalkeeper had been fouled.
Having made it to the break on level terms after being on the back foot for most of the opening 45, it was Sligo who looked the most threatening after the restart, Alan Kirby squandering a golden opportunity when he skied the ball over the bar from just six yards out with Velychko stranded.
Raffaele Cretaro and Eoin Doyle both went close as the visitors threatened to nick an all-important away goal, but Poltava had chances of their own and were unlucky not to capitalise on some indecision in the Sligo area with just ten minutes remaining.
As the clock ticked towards full time, it was the Irish side who had the ball in the net for a second time, only to see the referee spring to Velychko’s protection once more, leaving everything to play for in The Showgrounds in seven days’ time.
Meanwhile, St. Patrick’s Athletic were hit with a killer blow when Andrei Voronkov struck three minutes into injury-time to give Karpaty Lviv a 2-0 lead to take to Dublin.
The Inchicore side fell behind in the 35th minute when on-loan Ukranian international Artem Fedetskiy popped up to put the hosts ahead.
Although Pat’s never really troubled Martin Bogatinov’s goal in the second period, they were still very much in the tie until substitute Voronkov pounced at the death.
A disappointed Pete Mahon now knows that his side will need to score at least twice without conceding if they are to have any hope of progressing after next week’s second leg in Tallaght Stadium.
