Sligo bounce back and now eye top four spot

Sligo Rovers 3 Athlone Town 1

Sligo Rovers bounced back from last weekend’s 1-0 defeat away to St Patrick’s Athletic with a comfortable win over Athlone Town at the Showgrounds on Saturday.

Manager John Coleman insists the Bit o’ Red can drag themselves closer to the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division table top four if they manage to perform to the level they have reached over the past two weekends.

“If we apply ourselves and play as we did against St Patrick’s Athletic in the second-half last week, I knew we were more than capable of winning the game on Saturday,” he said.

“That performance in the second period demanded a better result and that’s what we’re looking for. We want to get three points and give us momentum for a really strong finish to the league.”

Sligo Rovers were well on top throughout but struggled to earn a breakthrough until John Russell broke the deadlock on 47 minutes. Two goals from Evan McMillan in the final 10 minutes sealed the three points despite a late Sam O’Connor consolation goal.