Athlone Town 2 - 2 Sligo Rovers

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Late equaliser means points shared

Gary Devine broke Sligo Rovers hearts with a 94th minute equaliser as ten man Athlone Town grabbed a late point in a thrilling 2-2 First Division draw at St.Mels Park on Friday night.

Eric Molloy was the hero when he opened the scoring for Athlone after just ten minutes. But Molloy then became the villain when he was shown the red card by Cork referee Anthony O'Regan on 75 minutes.

Sligo had seemed to be in control after two second half Gareth Gorman free kicks had edged them in front. Gorman's first on 73 minutes was a fortuitous affair when his shot-cum-cross ended up in the back of the net. Then he crashed home a stunning second eight minutes later from the edge of the box.

But it was Devine who was to have final say with that late, late equaliser when he raced on to a through ball from Stephen Mullen for his first goal of the campaign.

Teams:
Athlone Town: Moran, Kenny, Carberry, Rush, Hope, Collins, Clarke, Parkes, Mullen, Kelly, Molloy.
Subs: Devine for Parkes (68 mins.), Harney for Clarke (83 mins.).

Sligo Rovers: Kelly, Otaler, Neary, McNamara, O'Dwyer, Keeney, O'Dowd, Hutchinson, Rogers, McTiernan, Gorman.
Subs: O'Donoghue for Neary (83 mins.), Dolan for Gorman (87 mins,), Rossiter for O'Dowd (89 mins.).

Referee: Anthony O'Regan (Cork).

Never say die from everyone, great finish. Cabsy excellent. Stephen Kelly great at stand in centre half. Micky Collins superb in midfield - easily man of the match. Molloy brilliant until sending off, needs to steady up on that feature of his game.

The ref was terrible and gifted I thought the two Sligo goals, I don't think either were free kicks.