Waterford United gave themselves something to play for in their final match of the season in Athlone by further damaging Sligo Rovers' automatic promotion hopes with a deserved 3-1 win at the Showgrounds on Saturday night.

Injury-hit Sligo were in trouble from the 14th minute when Ray Mcloughlin conceded a penalty which was converted by Alan Kirby. Waterford then won the match within 13 minutes of the second-half with well-taken goals from Kevin Whittle and captain Alan Reynolds.

Sligo pulled a goal back on 65 minutes through their top scorer, Padraig Moran, who also hit the Waterford crossbar late on.

The result means that all four teams immediately behind champions Dundalk should go into the last round of games on Saturday with a chance of promotion.

Goals in either half from Mark Quinless and Mark Byrne earned bottom-of-the-table Drogheda United a 2-0 win over Cobh Ramblers, only their third win of season.

Glentoran preserved their phenomenal Irish Cup record in the "feel good final" with their fierce Belfast rivals, Linfield, at Windsor Park. They have emerged triumphant in all of their last 11 finals and were winning here for the third time under manager Roy Coyle.

The tie, fought out in front of an impeccably behaved 15,000 crowd, went into extra time, and young newcomer Michael Halliday grabbed the 99th minute winner.