Speaking following his side’s defeat to Dundalk on Monday, Sligo Rovers’ Rhys McCabe couldn’t hide his disappointment. Sligo’s poor home record continued as they tumbled to their eleventh defeat at the Showgrounds this season despite an impressive
Speaking following his side’s defeat to Dundalk on Monday, Sligo Rovers’ Rhys McCabe couldn’t hide his disappointment.
Sligo’s poor home record continued as they tumbled to their eleventh defeat at the Showgrounds this season despite an impressive first half performance.
Rovers’ latest loss stretches their winless league record at home to almost four months.
Two defensive errors proved to be the Bit O’Red’s downfall, one each side of half-time as Michael Duffy and Pat Hoban each furthered their scoring records for the season.
“It was a good performance from us but at the end of the day we’ve still lost so there’s frustration there”, McCabe said.
“I felt we more than matched them tonight. We had a few chances, maybe not so much clear cut but I think we matched them all over the pitch and our energy levels were better than theirs.
“We won a lot of second balls but maybe there was a bit of immaturity from us as players for the goals.
“No taking away from it, they’re a good side and probably the benchmark for this league. But I thought we made the same kind of mistakes we’ve been making previously. But we should know how to deal with that and use the experience that we’ve got and deal with it.”
A goal down at the interval, Ger Lyttle’s side were unable to maintain their first half energy into the second 45.
Dundalk eventually capitalising on this when Hoban found himself in ample space to head home Duffy’s corner.
“When you’re down a goal and they score again, it’s like a pin in a balloon”, McCabe conceded.
“It deflates you that bit and it’s always going to be tough against them. You can see that in the last ten minutes where they gave us nothing.”
The reaction from the Sligo support towards their team at full-time was roundly appreciative. The polar opposite of the feedback the team and management received after the recent cup defeat to Longford Town.
“We’ve had that rocket up the backside”, Rhys reflects.
“So we felt we had to go back to basics and what was working well for us. We wanted to get back to playing with intensity and try to get the fans off their seats. We’ve come to the conclusion that that’s the best way to play at the Showgrounds.”
Rovers’ cup exit means they have no game this weekend. Up next is a tough trip to champions Cork City on Friday week.
Looking ahead, McCabe says: “Our away form shows we can get something.”
“We’ll go down there with a game plan and a structure to take something and I don’t think we should fear anyone. Everyone is capable of beating each other and you can see that in the league table. It’s up to us now to go down there and put in a professional performance on.”
