Dejection and disappointment may have been the overwhelming emotions in the Sligo Rovers camp on Sunday evening. But there was also a palpable sense of optimism following the narrow FAI Cup semi-final defeat to Dundalk. Michael Duffy’s 89th minute s
Dejection and disappointment may have been the overwhelming emotions in the Sligo Rovers camp on Sunday evening.
But there was also a palpable sense of optimism following the narrow FAI Cup semi-final defeat to Dundalk. Michael Duffy’s 89th minute strike booking the treble-chasers a place in yet another cup final at the Bit O’Red’s expense at a sold out Showgrounds.
They’re still quite a length off where they were during their golden years. But skipper Kyle Callan-McFadden went along with the local consensus that Liam Buckley is steadily laying the foundations for something promising in Sligo.
Over four thousand were in attendance at Sunday’s game. McFadden says the Sligo dressing room is eager to see more big days and nights at the Showgrounds as soon as possible.
“We were told to be here at 3pm and when we came in, the place was packed. I’ve never seen it like that," he said.
“But to see the Showgrounds rocking like that just makes us want it like that every week.
“When you get on top, you feel the fans on top of you and it spurs you on even more. You have to take encouragement from what we’ve done.
“So now it’s up to us to put in performances and bring those sort of games here and we know the fans will come out.
“The club hasn’t been to a cup semi-final is six years and we’re sitting sixth in the table, comfortably. Things are definitely going in the right direction. We now need to dust ourselves down and finish the season strong.
“Since I’ve been here, we’ve been down and around the relegation zone. But things have changed since (Liam) came in. We’re looking forward a lot to next season.”
Dealing with a potent Dundalk attack, Rovers themselves held a threat going forward and came close to taking the lead through Ronan Coughlan and John Mahon in the opening half.
Gary Rogers won’t remember the second half of this game as one where he was particularly busy. But Sligo did pin the Lilywhites into their own half for spells.
McFadden says the champions did what champions will do.
“We were in the game for large parts and they’ve hit us with that sucker punch in the last minute”, he concluded.
“They attacked in waves but I never felt we were going to concede. But they’re champions for a reason and they’ve caught us with a tricky set piece. You can’t switch off.”
