Waterford United 0 - 2 Sligo Rovers

Two first half goals were enough for Sligo Rovers to advance to the next round of the FAI Ford Cup with a 2-0 win against First Division Waterford United on Saturday night.

The game saw the return to action for Danny North who took his place on the Sligo Rovers substitute's bench, while Waterford United had to deal with the loss of influential centre back Gavin Kavanagh who missed the game through illness.

Sligo Rovers began strongest with Anthony Elding denied a chance by the diving headed clearance of Seamus Long before Michael Coady’s goal saving challenge to stop Raffaele Cretaro from opening the deadlock in the opening exchanges.

The home side were denied a penalty after ten minutes when Iarfhlaith Davoren’s tackle on Paul Quilty was not deemed a penalty by referee Sean Grant. A lucky escape for the away side.

Gary Rogers was called into action to splendidly turn Dylan Mernagh’s pinpoint header around the far post after Jack Doherty’s free kick.

But Sligo Rovers continued to press at will and they broke the deadlock midway through the first half. Controversy surrounded the awarding of the corner, but Aaron Greene’s delivery wasn’t cleared by Vinny Sullivan at the near post, and Danny Ventre had time to turn and fire past Blues keeper Hyland for the opener.

The Blues had a great chance to get back into the game after the half hour mark, as Michael Coady, Jack Doherty and Kevin O’Connor combined to set Vinny Sullivan through on goal but his strike at goal was too close to Gary Rogers, and he saved easily.

The away side should have been awarded a penalty six minutes before half time. A long ball over the top caught out Blues keeper Craig Hyland as he clattered into Aaron Greene in the process. Referee Sean Grant immediately blew the whistle, but pulled out the yellow card for Greene and waved away the penalty protests.

Sligo Rovers pushed on though and struck a killer blow on the stroke of half time with a second goal. Liam Martin played in Aaron Greene inside the penalty box and he crossed for the unmarked Anthony Elding to crash the ball past Hyland. Despite the offside calls from the home side, the goal stood as the halftime whistle rang.

The opening to the second had saw little in the way of chances, as Rovers held onto possession for long periods. Paul Quilty’s strike went high over Rogers’ goal before Ben Ryan saw his attempted lob on Rogers’ goal drop just wide of the goal.

Anthony Elding should have made it 3-0 with fifteen minutes to go when he broke the offside trap but Craig Hyland stood up to the striker, pushed him wide and saved smartly in The Blues goal.

The Blues had a great chance in the final minute to grab a late consolation but Gary Rogers produced a great diving save to deny Jack Doherty after good build up from Coady and Quilty.

Rovers held their two-goal lead to deservedly advance to the next round and get back to winning ways after their defeat against Dundalk this week. For managerless Waterford United, they will be pleased with their good showing that leaves them free to concentrate on their league campaign for the rest of the season.

Waterford United: Craig Hyland; Dylan Mernagh, Seamus Long, David Breen, Michael Coady; Aidan McGrath (Peter Higgins 77), Peter White, Kevin O’Connor (Conor Coad 63), Jack Doherty; Vinny Sullivan (Ben Ryan 63), Paul Quilty.
Subs not used: Gavin O’Donovan, Francis Rockett, Chip Sanders, Daragh Walshe.
Bookings: None

Sligo Rovers: Gary Rogers; Seamus Conneely (Alan Keane 74), Gavin Peers, Jeff Henderson, Iarfhlaith Davoren; Rafaelle Cretaro (Liam Martin 18), David Cawley, Danny Ventre, Aaron Greene (Danny North 85), Kieran Djilali; Anthony Elding.
Subs not used: Joseph Ndo, Pascal Millien, Ciaran Kelly, Ross Gaynor.
Bookings: Aaron Greene, Liam Martin.

Referee: Sean Grant.
Attendance: 576.
Man of the Match: Danny Ventre.