SLIGO HAVE HAD a significant couple of days after holding Cork to a draw and backing it up with a 5-1 win over St Patrick’s Athletic in the Setanta Cup last night.
They were very unfortunate not to have won the game on Friday but showed a bit of naivety in their defending with two minutes to go. There was much more intensity in their play and some real pace to their game — which hasn’t been there at the start of the year.
To create so many chances at Turner’s Cross is encouraging because teams haven’t been able to do that so far and they probably should have won the game.
Listening to both managers afterwards, you could see Ian Baraclough was chuffed with how his team had performed while John Caulfield was happy for different reasons as maybe he knew they had got away with a draw.
It was probably a decent point for Cork in the end as they were second best on the night. For Sligo to then follow that up last night in such formidable fashion must be pleasing.
When I got the result I was shocked and my initial instinct was to think that Pat’s had played a weakened team. It’s just not a result you expect in a semi-final. I checked the line-ups and discovered that they actually had a very strong side out.
Keith Fahey had to come off again and pretty much limped through the last 15 minutes of the first half. So I would imagine they were were carrying him up until they changed it at half-time.
What the two games prove is that Sligo’s early season form was not a correct indication of where they are. They underperformed for the first six or seven games of the season but have the ability to go and turn that around.
Despite the two excellent performances, the reality is they have only got a point and it will stand for nothing if they don’t add to that tally this weekend so it’s a big game for them at home to UCD.
They need to start racking up the points in order to find some momentum. Baraclough is still suggesting that they can win it and they probably can just about if they turn it around because it is so early.
Dundalk take a 2-1 lead into tonight’s second semi-final at Oriel Park. The Lilywhites are a good footballing team who are expansive and tend to play well on good pitches.
When they play at home they can also cope with the artificial pitch better and read the bounces. It is a horrendous surface and hasn’t been taken care of properly.
There are some very good all-weathers out there and I don’t have any issue at all with playing on them. Some of them can be excellent but the simple fact is theirs is a bad one.
I can see it being fairly hectic as there is a lot at stake. Rovers are going to want to get to the final again and retain the trophy and I envisage them playing very direct.
I’m backing Rovers winning the game but whether or not it will be enough for them to go through, I’m not sure.
