Full-time in Tallaght. Shamrock Rovers 2-1 Sligo Rovers.

Pico Lopes awarded man of the match.

Mata goes excruciatingly close to a leveller! He gets up for a corner at point-blank range, his header just about grazing over the crossbar.

Attendance for tonight\'s match was 5,501.

Darragh Nugent also comes on for Graham Burke.

Bolger and Johan Brannefalk are swapped out for Lukas Browning and David Crawley.

Kenny comes off for Aaron Greene.

Goal! Greg Bolger finishes from the outside of the box deflecting off Lopes to give Sligo a life-line!

Eanna Clancy is swapped for Daniel Lafferty.

Goal! Trevor Clarke picks up the ball on the half-way and embarks on a slaloming run down the left wing, and the wing-back goes virtually untouched as he hits the penalty area. He takes a quick look up and finishes it across Mcguiness' goal to make it 2-0.

Richie Towell comes on for Markus Poom. Barlow also replaced by Radosavljevic.

Neil Morahan bundles Gary O'Neill to the ground and gifts Rovers a free-kick from thirty yards out. Byrne's free-kick amounts to nothing and McNicholas collects comfortably.

Kailin Barlow puts a dangerous free-kick into The Hoops' box, Lopes beating Mata in the air to head the ball out for safety.

And we're back underway in Tallaght!

Half-time in Tallaght. Shamrock Rovers 1-0 Sligo Rovers.

1 minute of added time to be played.

Mata flashes a shot from outside of the box that just falls inches left from Mannus' left post.

Kenny's opening goal has been an apt reward for what's been an impressive first-half display, consistently giving Sligo''s backline issues with his electric pace. Stephen Bradley will hope that his opening effort is a sign that the Celtic loanee has added some more clinical finishing to his arsenal, in what has so far evaded him this season.

Despite the scoreline it hasn't been plain sailing for The Hoops, Liivak and Mata's pace and deft control proving a headache to deal with.

Mata slices a shot through Trevor Clarke's legs and his effort looks to be goal-bound, Mannus getting to the ground with just enough time to prevent an equaliser.

Goal! Poom floats a ball over the top to Johnny Kenny, who outmuscles Clancy, his next two touches bringing him ten yards out. His finish is clinical, firing the ball past McNicholas as soon as the keeper begins to lunge towards the ball.

Rovers enjoy a sustained period in Sligo's half, and soon Farrugia's released down the right, pulling the ball back for Graham Burke who fires a goal-bound shot that's blocked by Eanna Clancy.

It's been a lively start to the game for both teams, Kenny bursting down the wing and capitalising on a heavy touch from Reece Hutchinson. Keeny's next touch is just as poor as Hutchinson's, the ball rolling directly to McNicholas' feet.

Penalty shouts on the other end as Frank Liivak darts Pico Lopes and leaves him floored on the edge of the box. The Estonian gets brought to the ground by Lee Grace in the penalty area, referee Damien Macgraith deeming it fair game.

First big chance of the game as Neil Farrugia floats a ball into Johnny Kenny who gets up well for a header six yards out, his effort glancing past the left post of Luke McNicholas.

And we're underway in Tallaght!

The league's top scorer Max Mata starts for Sligo, seven goals to his name so far this campaign. It will be interesting to see how the Kiwi matches up against a Hoops' defence that has proved itself to be slightly error-prone and overexposed at various points this season.

This evening's trip down to Tallaght marks a four-day away trip for John Russel's men. They square off against Pats on Monday, and Russel belives his team are ready to seize the opportunity of two matches against two big teams: "I know the players are relishing the challenge of going away from home and trying to close the gap on the teams above us,” he said. “We had a good performance last weekend. It was important to pick up the three points in what is such a tight and competitive league. “There will be a lot of twists and turns over the next few weeks but it’s important that we concentrate on ourselves and what we’re trying to do on the pitch.”

All eyes in Tallaght will be fixated on Jack Byrne, following a hectic transfer saga that saw Shamrock Rovers turn down a blockbuster offer from MLS side Charolette FC for the Irish international's services. Despite Byrne being allegedly disappointed over the move failing to materialise, Bradley has been impressed with his professionalism: "It was a difficult week for everybody involved, but especially for Jack. He’s the one in the middle of it and I’m sure he had 10 different people in his ear, telling him different things. “So it’s very easy to be distracted by that and not focus on your performance, but I felt on Friday he showed why he is at the level he’s at. I thought he was really mature in how he played, he worked extremely hard for the team and obviously, his quality was there for all to see."

Shamrock Rovers made a decisive statement in Richmond Park last Friday, cruising past fellow title challengers St. Patricks Athletic with a 2-0 win. Manager Stephen Bradley says he was greatly impressed with his squad's performance: “I thought we were really good in every aspect of our performance. We controlled the game for large parts."

Since the opening weekend, both teams have enjoyed somewhat tumultuous starts to the season before eventually settling down in the league standings, The Hoops residing in third while The Bit O'Red sit just two points behind in fifth spot.

The reverse fixture on opening weekend saw Sligo salvage a point from the death, Browning-Lagerfeldt equalising affairs at the Showgrounds in the 94th minute to make it 1-1.

Evening all, welcome along to tonight's match report of Shamrock Rovers vs Sligo Rovers. The two sides will look to build on two impressive wins from the previous weekend when they kick off in Tallaght at 8.