Sligo in good form ahead of cup final

Sligo Rovers 4 UCD 2

Ciaran Kelly saved a penalty as Sligo warmed up for their third successive FAI Ford Cup final appearance with a rousing home win over a battling UCD at the Showgrounds.

Matthew Blinkhorn finished from a John Dillon corner for his 12th goal of the season to give Sligo a 12th minute lead.

Eight minutes later Kelly, who saved all four spot kicks in last year’s cup final win over Shamrock Rovers, saved a penalty from Dean Marshall.

But UCD were level right on half-time when Robbie Benson’s shot squirmed through the hands of Kelly and into the net.

Sligo regained the lead two minutes into the second half. Raffaele Cretaro’s shot took a strong deflection off defender David O’Connor to beat Mark McGinley.

Dillon then put Sligo 3-1 up on 63 minutes when shooting home after Eoin Doyle's initial effort rebounded back to him.

UCD hit back 10 minutes later. Fine build up play ended with Paul Corry setting up Benson to score his second of the game.

Alan Kirby sealed the win for Sligo on 83 minutes, however, when his curling shot from distance beat McGinley for a fourth time.