Posted online: Jun 12th, 2009

Sligo Rovers 0
Derry City 1

By Darragh Cox
At The Showgrounds

Sligo Rovers fell to their second successive Premier Division defeat despite a superb showing against a strong Derry City side on Friday evening at The Showgrounds.
The only goal arrived after just 13 minutes, when Sammy Morrow got on the end of Stephen Gray’s deep cross and fired to the net from a tight angle.
It proved enough to overcome a spirited Sligo side, that were without seven players through suspension (Conor O’Grady, Alan Keane), injury (Chris Butler, Mauro Almeida, Sean Doherty and Stephen Parkhouse) and international duty (Romuald Boco).
In fact, Rovers had just two substitutes in keeper Ciaran Kelly and Christopher Kelly, and handed starts to youngsters Danny Keohane and Jason Noctor in the full-back positions.
Elsewhere, Steve Feeney started in an unfamiliar centre-midfield position, Owen Morrison joined Raffaele Cretaro up front for the first time, and Shaun Holmes started on the left-wing.
Derry took the lead early on, when Gray broke down the left and picked out Morrow, who slid the ball to the net.
They almost doubled the lead on 29 minutes, when Gareth McGlynn’s stinging shot was brilliantly stopped by Richard Brush’s flying save.
Raffaele Cretaro’s well-hit shot from inside the Derry box showed that Rovers possessed a threat, and Gerard Doherty had to be alert to keep the Tubbercurry man’s shot out.
The Bit O’ Red were the better team at the start of the second half, with former Derry winger Owen Morrison coming to life. He linked up well with Cretaro as Rovers carved the Derry backline open on a couple of occasions. The best move came just three minutes into the half, when Morrison found Cretaro, but his attempted pull-back to Feeney was halted by crucial interception.
The closest Rovers came to pulling level was when Cretaro let fly from well outside the area after seizing on a Derry mistake in the middle of the park. For the second time, though, Doherty got down well to make the save.
Derry had the ball in the net for a second time on 60 minutes, when David Scullion latched onto the ball in the box after Brush saved Morrow’s shot.
Scullion’s shot was brilliantly blocked by Gavin Peers on the line, but the ball rebounded off the Derry man and into the net. Referee Anthony Buttimer ruled the goal out for a handball against the Derry man, however.
The official was at the centre of the action again on 72 minutes, with a double sending-off. Noctor went in hard on Clive Delaney in front of the dugouts, and Gray reacted, sparking a pushing and shoving match between the players.
When it calmed down, Noctor and Gray were shown red, while Derry captain Peter Hutton was booked for dissent.
Rovers pushed hard for an equaliser in the closing stages, but it was Derry that had the better scoring chances late on, with McGlynn forcing a fine save off Brush, while substitute James McLean saw a late effort cleared off the line by Danny Ventre.
Holmes caused some panic in the Derry rearguard with a couple of late shots, but the visitors clung on for the win that moves them to second spot in the league.

Best for Rovers: Raffaele Cretaro.
Sligo Rovers: Richard Brush, Jason Noctor, Gavin Peers, Danny Ventre, Danny Keohane (Christopher Kelly 82), Brian Cash, Richie Ryan, Steve Feeney, Shaun Holmes, Owen Morrison, Raffaele Cretaro.
Subs not used: Ciaran Kelly.
Derry City: Gerard Doherty, Eddie McCallion, Clive Delaney, Peter Hutton, Stephen Gray, Gareth McGlynn, Ruaidhri Higgins, Kevin Deery, David Scullion (James McLean 61), Mark Farren, Sammy Morrow (Ger O’Brien 77).
Subs not used: Patrick Jennings, Mark McChrystal, Ciaran Martyn.
Referee: Anthony Buttimer.