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Date Time League Season
14 March 2022 7:45 pm LOI Men's Premier Division 2022

Match Report

Keena hat-trick does the job for Sligo

Sligo Rovers extended their unbeaten streak in this year’s Premier Division season as an Aidan Keena hat-trick against Finn Harps sent the home side sailing to three points at the Showgrounds.

Finn Harps did manage to pull one back via substitute Luke Rudden in the 87thminute but their late resurgence wasn’t enough to topple Liam Buckley’s side’s confidence and victory in the North-west derby that finished 3-1.

After sustaining some opening exchange pressure from Harps, the inaugural goal surfaced when Keena found space on the edge of the area after some quick passes from Adam McDonnell and Will Fitzgerald. The Bit O’ Red’s new signing launched a bullet effort to pass Mark McGinley in net and into the bottom left corner to set the ball rolling for the rest of the game.

His second appeared minutes from halftime when Karl O’Sullivan and Jordan Hamilton helped him crowd the box and pepper the goal with shots for his brace, and it remained 2-0 heading into the break.

Mark Timlin emerged out of the tunnel for the Donegal outfit in place of Eric McWoods in what looked a tactical change from Ollie Horgan for the second 45 minutes, although a third concession was to come shortly afterwards.

Keena bagged his third in the 47 minute after getting on the end of a lofted long ball,  wrapping up an exceptional showcase from the Mullingar man.

Even at three goals ahead Rovers continued to push for more notches on the scoreboard, while on the other hand Yousef Mahdy and Elie Gael N’Zeyi looked lively for Harps, as did manager Horgan who received a yellow for his animations on the sideline around the 70th minute match.

Luke Rudden took a bit of the shine off the home team’s brilliant exhibition then late on to grab a consolation goal in the 87th minute, but overall it was a night to remember for Sligo who will appreciate the momentum coming into their big encounter with Shamrock Rovers on Friday.

Elsewhere Finn Harps next outing lies in Tolka Park with Damien Duff’s Shelbourne where the men in blue and white will aspire to dust themselves off and get back to winning ways.

Sligo Rovers

30Richard Brush Goalkeeper
3Colm Horgan Defender
14Shane Blaney Defender
5Robbie McCourt Defender
7Will Fitzgerald 12 Midfielder
8Niall Morahan Midfielder
9Aidan Keena 27 Forward 12', 41', 47'
10Jordan Hamilton Forward
14Karl O’Sullivan 19 Forward
17Adam McDonnell Midfielder
28Nando Pijnaker Defender
31Conor Walsh Goalkeeper
2Lewis Banks Defender
11Seamas Keogh Midfielder
12Mark Byrne 7 Midfielder
19Paddy Kirk 14 Defender
22David Cawley Midfielder
25Cillian Heaney Forward
26Garry Buckley Midfielder
27Max Mata 9 Forward

Finn Harps

1Mark McGinley Goalkeeper
2Conor Tourish Defender
5Dave Webster Defender 71'
6Ryan Connolly 21 Midfielder
8Eric McWoods 10 Forward
11Barry McNamee Midfielder
15Jose Carrillo Defender 25'
17Elie-Gael N’Zeyi Midfielder 59'
22Ryan Rainey 9 Midfielder
24Ethan Boyle Defender
33Filip Mihaljevic Forward
Nathan Logue Midfielder
Gavin Mulreany Goalkeeper
Luke Rudden 11 Forward 87'
Erol Erdal Alkan 15 Defender
9Yoyo Mahdy 22 Forward
10Mark Timlin 8 Midfielder
11Jesse Devers Midfielder
21Bastien Hery 6 Midfielder
30Damian Duffy Midfielder
  • 93'

    All over, the Northwest derby concludes 3-1 in Sligo's favour

  • 90'

    All over, the Northwest derby concludes 3-1 in Sligo's favour

  • 90'

    3 minutes added time

  • 87'

    Rudden goal! Goes for power to pull one back for Harps. Keogh takes the field for Sligo

  • 84'

    Nice ball from Boyle to Timlin but its called offside

  • 79'

    Hamilton with a double shot but to no avail for Sligo

  • 77'

    McNamee off, Luke Budden on for Harps. Paddy Kirk on for O'Sullivan for Rovers

  • 74'

    O'Sullivan through on goal but McGinley the better of it

  • 73'

    Fitzgerald off, Byrne on for Sligo. Keena off, Mata on

  • 72'

    Pijnaker gets a head to it but the effort is wide

  • 70'

    Ollie Horgan added to the book too!

  • 70'

    Yellow card for Webster

  • 69'

    Freekick Sligo

  • 66'

    Yoyo been really lively since he came on

  • 62'

    Rainey, Connolly and Carrillo off, Mahdy, Hery and Alkan on! Debut for Alkan

  • 62'

    Yoyo takes Finn Harps' free having just came on the pitch

  • 59'

    Connolly pulls down Fitzgerald. N'Zeyi gets a yellow for a retaliation

  • 58'

    O'Sullivan finds Keena in the box and while it looks one of his easier chances of the night it doesn't fall for him and Finn Harps get away with one there

  • 57'

    Good defensive work from Tourist there to cut out a through ball intended for Hamilton

  • 55'

    Harps looking to put something together here with a passage of possession

  • 50'

    Blaney's shot collected by McGinley

  • 49'

    McGinley miskick leads to a Sligo corner

  • 47'

    KEENA, hatrick! He gets on the end of a lofting ball to net his third in impressive fashion

  • 46'

    Webster shot gathered by Brush

  • 46'

    Mark Timlin comes on for McWoods at the break. Early corner here too for Harps

  • 45'

    Finn Harps tip off the second half

  • 45'

    Halftime. Sligo go into the break 2-0 up thanks to a double from Aidan Keena

  • 41'

    KEENA! 2-0 to Sligo Rovers! He had a chance second earlier but makes good once again to net inside the area for The Bit O\'Red. A brace wrapped up for him inside the first half after some great work too from O'Sullivan and Hamilton

  • 40'

    McWoods with a great chance there but it doesn't come off

  • 39'

    McWoods chases Webster's ball but its out for a Sligo kick out

  • 36'

    Horgan sends Rovers on the break, finds Hamilton in the box before spreading play to McDonnell and McCourt.

  • 33'

    Sligo with the momentum now and racking up the free kicks, latest of which coming just outside the centre circle. Blaney to take

  • 30'

    Fitzgerald fouled on the left wing. Another free kick for Sligo

  • 26'

    Blaney's clearance only finds Harps and after they pass the ball around McNamee gets a shot off and it's saved by Brush

  • 24'

    Jose Carrillo given a yellow card

  • 24'

    Tourish muscles Ftizgerald off the ball

  • 20'

    McDonnell takes and Rainey blocks before it ends up in McGinley hands

  • 19'

    Another dangerous free kick for Sligo after Keena is brought down again

  • 15'

    Corner for Connolly and Harps. The visitors seem to be really targeting the right wing for their gameplay

  • 15'

    McNamee shot for Harps from distance drags well wide

  • 12'

    GOAL! Keena nets the opener for Sligo, his second for the club as he strikes one from the edge of the area

  • 11'

    Sligo corner results as McDonell took a swing at it

  • 10'

    Freekick awarded to Sligo as Keena is pulled on the edge of the area by McNamee

  • 9'

    Finn Harps really pushing forward in the opening exchanges

  • 7'

    Webster wins a free kick after an infringement from Hamilton

  • 4'

    Connolly freekick cleared by Rovers. Pitch seems to be slightly improved on the last time out but still not in precision condition

  • Slight delay in kick off but we are underway now!

  • Around 10 minutes until kick off at the Showgrounds!

  • Sligo boss Liam Buckley is also assured that the game will prove a “test” given “Ollie and the club have done a magnificent job recently and they are getting better and better each year.” “They've had a lot of ins and outs in the off season, like ourselves, and we're expecting a difficult game” he says. “I was thrilled with the first half display on Friday night and pleased with how we did from a playing point of view with some nice attacking play.” “The crowd against Dundalk in our last home game was fantastic and I would encourage all the supporters to come out and get behind the lads because they're a great group and definitely working hard for the club.”

  • Approaching the game manager Ollie Horgan says his side have “had a very tough go at it in Sligo over the years” and stresses that with “the way they’ve started the season things could go a similar way tomorrow night if we aren’t right.” “We’ve created chances in every game up to now but haven’t made them count” he adds. “We’ll need to be more clinical sooner rather than later to get points on the board and keep touch with the clubs above us.”

  • Last time the two met, a 10-man Harps nicked a 2-2 draw in Donegal after Kosovar Sadiki earned a red card early on, with Johnny Kenny, Niall Morahan, Sean Boyd and Karl O’Sullivan the goalscorers.

  • Third place in the table with egiht points after their 3-0 win over Drogheda United on Friday, The Bit O’Red are to battle it out with the Ballybofey group who are in tenth position on two points and recently lost 2-0 to St Patrick’s Athletic at home. In that fixture Jack Scott and Eoin Doyle were on target for The Saints, while Rovers’ corresponding match saw Lewis Banks, as well as new signings Jordan Hamilton and Will Fitzgerald net to jolt the fanbase into excitement over the season’s prospects.

  • Sligo Rovers pursue a continuation in their stellar form of late against Finn Harps tonight, the North-west derby gracing The Showgrounds come 7:45pm. My name is Alanna Cunnane and I'll be bringing you tonight's match commentary!

Past Meetings

(Series 32)
2 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Finn Park

Finn Harps v Sligo Rovers

(Series 23)
0 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers v Finn Harps

(Series 14)
1 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Finn Park

Finn Harps v Sligo Rovers

(Series 5)
1 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers v Finn Harps

(Series 10)
3 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers v Finn Harps

(Series 1)
1 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Finn Park

Finn Harps v Sligo Rovers

3 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers FC v Finn Harps FC

2 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Finn Park

Finn Harps FC v Sligo Rovers FC

1 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers FC v Finn Harps FC

1 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Finn Park

Finn Harps FC v Sligo Rovers FC

1 - 2
LOI Men's Premier Division
Finn Park

Finn Harps FC v Sligo Rovers FC

0 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers FC v Finn Harps FC

2 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Finn Park

Finn Harps FC v Sligo Rovers FC

7:45 pm
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers FC v Finn Harps FC

3
LOI Men's Premier Division
Finn Park

Finn Harps FC v Sligo Rovers FC

1 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers FC v Finn Harps FC

Ground

The Showgrounds
The Showgrounds - Sligo Rovers F.C., Magheraboy Road, Knappagh Beg, Sligo, Sligo Municipal Borough District, County Sligo, Connacht, F91 P523, Ireland

Alanna is currently pursuing her studies in journalism at Dublin City University and writes regularly for her local media outlets in Sligo.