PREVIEW: SLIGO ROVERS V DUNDALK FC

After dancing with death at the beginning of the week, Dundalk will hope to remember the 21st night of September as they aim to arrest the slide against seventh heaven-chasing Sligo Rovers at The Showgrounds on Saturday.

The Lilywhites’ financial situation remains a perilous one but new owner John Temple’s late intervention has ensured that Jon Daly and his players can still avoid being sent down, although they could be in deeper trouble by the time they kick off in the West.

Ninth-placed Drogheda United are a point clear of bottom-of-the-table Dundalk and have a game in hand, with the Boynesiders set to go in search of their first away league win of the season at the 16th attempt when they take on Bohemians at Dalymount Park on Friday night.

Twenty-four hours later, Dundalk look for their first victory in ten weeks. Daly’s side have won just once in their ten outings in all competitions since the midseason break – that coming at home to Drogheda on July 12th – with a current run of three straight one-goal defeats.

Last week, Jamie Gullan came off the bench in Waterford to give them late hope at the RSC where they ultimately lost 2-1 having conceded twice in the opening 16 minutes. That ended their mini two-match unbeaten run on the road, with still just one win away from Oriel Park all year.

There are holes in Sligo’s recent form that will give Dundalk hope of bagging a much-needed point or three, but their away performance must improve against a team with the second-best home record in the top flight behind Derry City.

The Lilywhites, second from bottom above only Drogheda in the away standings, have won just one of their 15 league games outside of Oriel this campaign and accumulated only seven points from the 45 on offer. Their sole success was in Richmond Park on the June Bank Holiday.

Sligo are looking for a seventh straight league win at The Showgrounds, with their incredible run of six beginning all the way back on that same June Monday. They have beaten Drogheda, Shamrock Rovers, Derry, Galway United, Shelbourne and Waterford, scoring twice in each match.

With Drogheda playing their game in hand at home to Galway on Monday, this is another critical few days in the battle to escape automatic relegation. Kevin Doherty’s side have seven games – four at Weavers Park – remaining, while Dundalk have six.

There are still trips to Galway and, on the final day, Drogheda to come, while Bohemians and title hopefuls Derry and Shamrock Rovers will visit the Carrick Road, in what is a difficult-looking run-in for a team that has earned just one point from the last 15 available.

FAI Cup semi-finalists Drogheda, meanwhile, also face Derry and Shamrock Rovers at home in their remaining fixtures, as well as travelling to Waterford and Shelbourne before that date with Dundalk on November 1st. It now appears a straight shootout at the bottom after Bohs’ recent form saw them skip clear in eighth.

Whatever the outcome in Phibsborough on Friday night, Dundalk will need to take something out of the West to give the club and its supporters a lift ahead of their return to Oriel next week, but their task will be difficult against fifth-placed Sligo.

The Bit O’Red have had mixed results lately, though. Following a stunning run of four straight wins after the break – before which they had lost 1-0 in Dundalk – they have won two and lost three of their last five league games, including a 7-0 annihilation in Drogheda. They also suffered a disappointing Cup exit at home to First Division UCD last month.

Sligo had bounced back from those two blows with a 2-0 win over Waterford in their last match at The Showgrounds at the end of August. But they returned from the international break with a 4-0 hammering by Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght, their third straight defeat on the road, last Friday.

One of Dundalk’s seven away points came in Sligo back in mid-April when Gullan’s early second-half penalty cancelled out the now-departed Fabrice Hartmann’s stunning early strike. More recently, they earned good draws at Bohs and Derry. Still, with time running out, wins are needed.

Back in early March, Sligo won 5-0 at Oriel but Dundalk subsequently went on a near four-month run of eight straight clean sheets at home, the last of which came in a narrow victory over John Russell’s side in June when Daryl Horgan’s cool 54th-minute finish settled the issue. That, indeed, is their last clean sheet anywhere.

While Dundalk are battling to protect the Premier Division status which they have held since their dramatic promotion in 2008, Sligo are dreaming of European football in 2025, with just two points separating them from third-placed Shamrock Rovers – who have a hand in game – ahead of the weekend fixtures.

In their remaining games, Sligo – who have picked up 28 points at home, 15 away and have a minus-eight goal difference – will entertain Bohemians and, on the final day, Saint Patrick’s Athletic while they face difficult trips to Shels, Derry and Galway.

Dundalk have not lost in Sligo since September 2021 when the hosts came from behind to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Andre Wright and Lewis Banks. In their five visits since, they have collected 11 points through three wins – the most recent last October when Horgan and Sam Durrant netted – and two draws.

Team News
Paul Doyle is back in the squad after missing the last xx games with a hamstring injury while Bobby Faulkner is also in contention after recovering from a similar ailment. Josh O’Connor misses out with an ankle knock.

Quotes – Jon Daly
“It’s great that John Temple has stepped in and taken the club on, and it gives us something to look forward to now going into the tight end of the season.

“Everybody has clarity now on where they stand and what’s happening and it means we can just focus on football now and not worry about what’s going on in the background.  It’s up to us now on the pitch to get the results that will keep Dundalk a Premier Division football club next year.

The Showgrounds is a tough venue to go to. I watched them against Waterford recently where they had a good win and they played really well, probably the best I’ve seen them play this season, so it’s going to be a tough game.

“They’ve got some fantastic footballers, some really good players in the middle to the top end of the pitch that can hurt you, so we need to make sure we manage that and then our attacking players positively impact the game.”

Match Officials
Referee: Marc Lynch
Assistants: Darragh Keegan and David Connolly
Fourth Official: Paul McLaughlin

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