Sligo Rovers 1
Galway 1
Jessica Farry reports from The Showgrounds.
STEPHEN FOLAN NETTED against his former club Sligo Rovers to rescue a draw for bottom side Galway United at The Showgrounds.
Brighton and Hove Albion loanee Jonah Ayunga put the Bit O’Red ahead after ten minutes, before Galway native Folan scored on 24 minutes.
The hosts came into this game looking for their first win since the 5th of May, whereas Galway’s last victory came more recently – on the 19th of May, their second of the season.
Manager Gerard Lyttle has been upfront about his side’s lack of depth in attacking areas, but the Bit O’Red looked strong in that area early on.
So much so, that they took the lead after just ten minutes. Following great work from both Kieran Sadlier and Liam Martin, Ayunga rounded Lee Grace on the right, and tucked the ball between the legs of Conor Winn at an awkward angle on the right hand side to give Rovers a 1-0 lead.
Galway, determined not to lose this relegation six-pointer, fought back and levelled the scoring on 24 minutes. Marc Ludden’s long throw looked to be saved by Micheal Schlingermann, but the Mayo man dropped the ball into the path of Folan, who poked it into the net to make it 1-1. Folan became the seventh former Sligo player to score against them this season.
Gerard Lyttle’s men could have gone ahead once again shortly after the re-start, when Tobi Adebayo-Rowling’s dangerous cross was cleared a couple of yards from goal by Lee Grace.
Ronan Murray tried his luck with a volley from distance, but his effort was well off the target.
With both sides desperate for a win, attacking became a priority in the dying minutes, but neither could find the break they so badly needed.
League of Ireland veteran Raffaele Cretaro dragged a shot wide in the last few meetings following Adebayo-Rowling’s cross.
Galway were reduced to ten men in injury time when Marc Ludden received his second yellow of the game, although it had little bearing on the result.
The result sees Sligo Rovers move out of the bottom three, whereas Galway remain bottom.
Sligo Rovers: Micheal Schlingermann; Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, Michael Leahy, Kyle Callan-McFadden, Regan Donelon; Kieran Sadlier, John Russell, Craig Roddan (Gary Boylan, 78), Liam Martin; Jonah Ayunga, Raffaele Cretaro (Mikey Place, 88).
Subs: Shaun Patton, Paul Doyle, John Mahon, Seamus Sharkey, Jack Keaney.
Finn Harps: Conor Winn; Marc Ludden, Stephen Folan, Lee Grace, Colm Horgan; Kevin Devaney, Paul Sinnott, Ronan Murray, Alex Byrne; Gary Shanahan (Conor Melody, 90), Vinny Faherty (Padraic Cunningham, 90).
Subs: James Tierney, Eoin McCormack, Maurice Nugent, Aaron Conway, Robert Spelman.
Referee: Graham Kelly
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