Sligo Rovers 1 Bohemians 1:TEN-MAN Bohemians shared the points with battling Sligo in a gripping game at the Showgrounds last nighhme at the Showgrounds last night.
The draw proved costly for Bohemians who missed the chance to close the gap on leaders Shamrock Rovers to a single point.
John Russell rescued Paul Cook’s side in the 57th seventh minute with a clinical finish following a clever ball by Benin International Romauld Boco.
The game, also a dress rehearsal for next month’s FAI Ford Cup semi-final between the sides, was played a high tempo throughout.
Bohemians got off to a lively start with Cillian Brennan’s long-range shot tipped over the bar by Ciarán Kelly in the Sligo goal.
tthew Blinkhorn had a chance at the other end from an Eoin Doyle cross on eight minutes as the home side settled into their task.Matthew Blinkhorn then went close twice for Sligo in the space of three minutes.
Gareth McGlynn just failed to make contact with a probing ball in by Mark Quigley in the 25th minute in one of the Gypsies’ infrequent raids into their opponents’ territory.
But Sligo had the lion’s share of the play in the opening quarter and it took solid defending by the visitors to keep the livewire home attack at bay.
Bohemians threatened when a well-struck free by Mark Quigley from 35 yards was tipped over by Kelly after 33 minutes and the visitors then broke the deadlock two minutes later when Quigley made no mistake by firing a low free-kick past the Sligo goalkeeper.
But the visitors suffered a real body blow when they were reduced to 10 men players in the 37th minute. Cillian Brennan was controversially shown a straight red card following an incident with Alan Keane near the touchline.
And Sligo made their numerical superiority tell when midfielder Russell’s precise finish earned his side a share of the spoils.
SLIGO ROVERS:Kelly, Keane, Davoren (Dillon 73) ,Peers, Ryan, Russell, Blinkhorn, Doyle (McCabe 73) Ndo, Boco, Laughlin. BOHEMIANS: O'Connor, Heary, Powell, Cronin, Shelly, Oman, Brennan, McGlynn, Cretaro (Rossiter 77), Byrne (Keegan 41), Quigley (Greene 73).
RefereeT Connolly (Dublin).
