Longford Town suffer defeat to Sligo Rovers

Longford Town remain bottom of the table following a 1-0 defeat to Sligo Rovers in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division at Bishopsgate.

A 25^th minute penalty from Jordan Gibson proved decisive as the Bit O’Red claimed all three points.

The first chance of the night fell to Longford Town in the third minute where a ball over the top found Aaron Dobbs who hit the side net from close range.

Two minutes later Sligo could’ve taken the lead as Romeo Parkes set up Jordan Gibson who fired over the bar from just outside the box.

The pair combined again in the 12^th minute with Gibson turning provider this time; Parkes 20-yard shot was saved by Lee Steacy. Seven minutes later Sligo almost got their noses in front, Dobbs heading Dylan Grimes crossa against the post.

The deadlock was broken in the 25^th minute when Rovers were awarded a penalty after Parkes was adjudged to be fouled in the box, Gibson calmly slotted home.

16 minutes later, a well delivered corner from Greg Bolger found Lewis Banks unmarked at the first post who shot wide.

12 minutes after the restart Sligo could’ve had a second goal as Gibson’s 20-yard effort was deflected out for a corner.

Liam Buckley’s side missed a golden chance to double the lead on 61 minutes, Parkes’ shot crashing off the crossbar following a solo run from the halfway line.

The rebound found it’s way to Ryan De Vries and his powerful 20-yard shot was dealt with by Steacy.

Chances were scarce from Town’s perspective, but substitute Matt O’Brien subsequently tried his luck from outside the box only to miss the target.

Town were handed another chance when Aaron Dobbs cross from the right found Aaron Robinson and his effort was deflected behind for a corner.

Daire Doyle’s men missed two chances to draw level with O’Brien shooting wide in the 83^rd minute before Aodh Dervin came up short two minutes later.

Dervin caught sub goalkeeper Luke McNicholas off his line and his effort from well outside the box missed the target.

David Crawley and Romeo Parkes both missed chances for the visitors thereafter as Sligo emerged victorious and Longford stayed rooted to the bottom of the table.

Longford Town: L Steacy; S Elworthy (C Davis,79), A O’Driscoll, J Manley, P Kirk; A Dervin, D Zambra (M O’Brien, ht); A McNally (K Chambers, ht), A Robinson (R Manley, 75), D Grimes; A Dobbs (A McCabe,86).

Sligo Rovers: E McGinty (L McNicholas, 35); L Banks, G Buckley, S Blaney, C Horgan; M Byrne (D Crawley, 73), N Morohan, G Bolger; J Gibson (W Figueira, 90); R DeVries, R Parkes.