Rovers bow out of Scottish Challenge Cup



Irn Bru Scottish Challenge Cup Second Round

 

Sligo Rovers 1

(Sharkey 18)

Falkirk 2

(Austin 9, Craigen 28)

 

Sligo Rovers’ maiden involvement in the Irn Bru Cup ended at the first hurdle with defeat to Falkirk at the Showgrounds last night.

It was over two weeks since Rovers’ last fixture, and the visitors took just nine minutes to find the opener, as Rory Loy squared the ball for Nathan Austin, who beat Shaun Patton with the minimum of fuss.

The netminder had to make a diving stop to prevent Alex Harris from netting from a free-kick.

But not before James Craigen was given too much space at the edge of the box on 28 minutes and he picked out the bottom corner for Falkirk’s second goal.

Centre-back Seamus Sharkey had cancelled out Austin’s opener when he headed home Regan Donelon’s set-piece delivery on 18 minutes, while Rovers striker Raff Cretaro also felt he should have had a penalty when tangling with Falkirk’s Jordan McGhee inside the area.

The second period was a dull affair with few chances and no further goals, though Rhys McCabe almost caught out Falkirk keeper Robbie Thomson with an audacious effort from inside his own half.

 

SLIGO: Patton, Adebayo-Rowling, Callan-McFadden, Sharkey, Donelon, McCabe, Roddan (Kearns 63), Kenny, Boylan, Cretaro (Moorhouse 63), Faherty (Igiehon 71).

FALKIRK: Thomson, Muirhead, McGhee (Gasparotto 81), Balatoni, Gallacher, Harris (Kerr 70), Taiwo, Craigen, Blues, Loy, Austin (Shepherd 90).

REF: K Kennedy.



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