A Rory Gaffney double and a late Aaron Greene strike were the difference between the two Rovers in the sunny Showgrounds this evening in Sligo as the Champions routed the home side 3-0 to move clear at the top of the table.

Jack Byrne had the first effort on target in the first minute of the game for the visitors but Luke McNicholas was more than capable of gathering without any fuss.

Approaching the ten minute mark Sligo almost capitalised on a slip from Dan Cleary as Max Mata pounced on the loose ball, feeds Reese Hutchison on the left flank, his fired cross was
deflected just wide by a teammate.

Instantly The Hoops broke and almost opened the scoring. Farugia set off on a mazy run and his cross found Gaffney but McNicholas again was comfortable with the save.

It was past the half hour mark before we had another meaningful opportunity at either end as Sligo’s interim centre half pairing of Niall Morahan and Reese Hutchinson dealt with the firepower of Gaffney and Kenny. Markus Poom broke forward and with options either side shot from distance but his effort didn’t bother the home defence.

Kenny almost came back to haunt his former employers again on 37 minutes when he got his head on a Farugia cross but McNicholas got a firm hand to it to keep it out and deflect it away from danger as the last goalscoring opportunity of the half passed without either side finding the net.

Shamrock Rovers found an extra gear after the break and the game had barely restarted when Gaffney found Jack Byrne with a cut back on the edge of the box. He fired low to the bottom corner through a sea of legs but McNicholas managed to get down and nullify the attempt, gathering the ball at the second attempt.

Minutes later they would combine to open the scoring. Byrne this time slaloming through the home defence, finding Lee Grace who skipped past a few defenders and played a perfectly weighted ball through to Johnny Kenny, the Sligo native looked to have taken the sting out of the attack with an extra touch in the box but then produced a perfect square ball to Gaffney who tapped in at the back post.

Two minutes later it was double the advantage to the visitors. A fabulous ball over the top from Byrne found Gaffney who nodded the ball into his own path before deftly lofting the ball over the advancing McNicholas to double the scoring.

Stephen Bradley rang the changes up top withdrawing both Gaffney and Kenny as Burke and Greene were given an opportunity to finish the job.

Greene did almost add a third with five minutes left on the clock but McNicholas produced another top notch stop from the Mayo man to keep them in touch.

The home side did rally but were unable to force a way back into the game and will leave the Showgrounds side looking over their shoulder as Cork and Drogheda continue to close the gap at the bottom of the table.