Sligo Rovers take northwest derby to put an end to Derry City's unbeaten run
Paddy McClean scored against his hometown club
Derry City
as
Sligo Rovers
extended the buffer between themselves and bottom side Cork City to eight points at The Showgrounds in Sligo.
Wilson Waweru scored the Bit O'Red's insurance goal as Rovers deservedly handed Derry their first defeat in six league outings. The result means the Candystripes remain nine points off leaders Shamrock Rovers with one game in hand.
In the sizzling Sligo heat, it was the hosts who were the more impressive from the off. Rovers should have taken the lead six minutes later, but centre half Ollie Denham nodded Owen Elding's cross from the left past Brian Maher's post from two yards out.
Sligo did make the most of their next visit to the well as Derry switched off at a 19th-minute corner. Jake Doyle-Hayes's set-piece landed on the foot of the unmarked McClean, who finished past Maher for his first goal since his return to the Showgrounds last month.
READ MORE
Elding kept his side ahead on 23 minutes when the young attacker swept Hayden McCann's header from Michael Duffy's corner off his own line moments before the water break.
Rovers managed two first-half goals last week against Shamrock Rovers and did it again here courtesy of another defensive mishap when Maher spilt Ryan O'Kane's cross at the foot of Waweru, who was left with a simple finish into an open net.
Sligo called on goalkeeper Sam Sargeant early in the second period and the he met Duffy's low drive with a strong left fist after the in-form winger's run brought him all the way into the opposing penalty area.
Tiernan Lynch's side went at the home side in waves but robust defending from a young Rovers outfit kept them at arm's length.
Derry introduced some of the league's best attacking talents with the likes of Adam O'Reilly, Danny Mullen and Robbie Benson sent on throughout the second half. But a Mullen effort on the turn, which Sargeant tipped over, was the closest they came to a consolation.
SLIGO ROVERS:
Sam Sargeant; Conor Reynolds (Daire Patton, 90), Ollie Denham, Paddy McClean, Will Fitzgerald; James McManus, Jake Doyle-Hayes; Owen Elding, Jad Hakiki, Ryan O'Kane (Kyle McDonagh, 76); Wilson Waweru (Francely Lomboto, 61).
DERRY CITY:
Brian Maher; Hayden Cann, Mark Connolly, Sam Todd; Ronan Boyce (Seán Patton, 84), Shane Ferguson (Danny Mullen, 61); Sadou Diallo (Robbie Benson, 72), Carl Winchester; Gavin Whyte (Adam O'Reilly, h-t), Michael Duffy; Liam Boyce (Alex Bannon, 61).
Referee:
Rob Hennessy.
Attendance:
2,877.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
18 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Obituary: Seán Doherty, imposing captain who lifted Dublin's first Sam Maguire Cup in 11 years
That success, sudden and unexpected, had a revolutionary impact in popularising the game in the capital, where it had suffered from public apathy and disinterest. Soccer, which was enjoying increasing television exposure, had been the more pervasive influence on young followers. The team managed by Kevin Heffernan and captained by Doherty offered a compelling and home-grown alternative. For those accustomed to the popularity and success of the Dublin football team now, the difference then could not be more pronounced. Dublin defender Robbie Kelleher told the story of a teacher in Fairview in the early 1970s who asked a class of 15- and 16-year-olds to name one Dublin footballer. Nobody could. After GAA president Dr Donal Keenan presented the Sam Maguire Cup to Doherty in the Hogan Stand in September 1974, that indifference evaporated. Doherty had come into the Dublin set-up in the late 1960s when their stock was low. That gave him a deeper appreciation of success when it arrived. When he lifted the cup in 1974, he was already 28. 'I think one of the worst years was probably 1972,' Doherty said last year of the lean times. 'We played Cork in Croke Park in the league and there were only three guys on the Hill.' Hill 16 soon became transformed into a feverish, heaving mass of Dublin football worship. Doherty made his championship debut against Longford in 1970, and before the breakthrough he featured on teams that lost four out of six Leinster games across four seasons. Heffernan was appointed after another failed harvest in 1973 took Dublin in a new direction. Heffernan wanted players he could trust: ideally, strong-minded types, highly motivated and intelligent. He did not chose his first captain lightly. Paddy Cullen had been nominated by UCD, but Heffernan decided Doherty was best suited. Soon after the first meeting with the players, Heffernan called Doherty aside at training and told him the news. 'I was very surprised at that,' admitted Doherty, who became known as 'the Doc'. 'I was still an intermediate footballer. I hadn't played at the levels that Tony Hanahoe or Brian Mullins or Jimmy Keaveney or Pat O'Neill, who had played with UCD — those players had much more experience than I had.' Doherty, physically imposing, strong in the air and uncompromising on the ground, went on to win three All-Ireland medals, adding further All-Ireland medals in 1976 and 1977, as well as six Leinster titles. Heffernan's personality was all over the team. 'He wasn't that interested in fancy footballers,' Doherty said. 'He wanted honesty. A good hard-working group that were big and strong and capable. And that were prepared to work their butt off for the duration of the game. At that stage we were training for matches lasting 80 minutes, and we caught a lot of teams on the hop with our level of fitness.' Doherty played in five successive All-Ireland finals and was a sub for the sixth in 1979, after which he retired. His performances in the breakthrough year in 1974 earned him an All-Star award at full-back. He captained the side again in 1975 when a youthful Kerry team caused a surprise by beating them in the final. After that loss the Dublin captaincy went to Tony Hanahoe, but Doherty remained a steadfast figure in the back line until his final year, the last of his 105 games for Dublin coming against Wicklow in the 1979 Leinster quarter-final. The 1975 All-Ireland final began a riveting rivalry with Kerry, a match remembered for an incident involving Doherty and his Kerry counterpart Mickey 'Ned' O'Sullivan. The Kerry captain made a weaving run in the first half, shipping a succession of heavy challenges before Doherty stopped him in his tracks. The Kerry captain ended up unconscious and spent the night in hospital, missing the trophy presentation. The teenage Pat Spillane stepped into the void as vice-captain. Doherty and O'Sullivan became extremely close over the years, and perhaps the most symbolic example of the friendship that developed between Kerry and Dublin despite being fierce rivals on the field of play. The two remained in close contact and were centrally involved in a 50th golden jubilee reunion in Kenmare this year. Doherty did speak in the past about the incident in the 1975 final to explain that it wasn't his intention to end O'Sullivan's part in the game. O'Sullivan, remarkably, said that the incident never came up in their numerous subsequent conversations. 'We never talk about it at all,' the Doc confirmed this year when I asked him about the incident. 'We met up and shook hands. Things happen and they happen in the spur of the moment and it's not something that is done behind the referee's back. It's a split-second decision.' They were, he said, 'the best of pals'. Seán Doherty was born in Glenealy in Wicklow in 1946. In the early part of his life he moved to south Dublin and became involved with Ballyboden Wanderers, which later became Ballyboden St Enda's. Before he joined the Dublin panel, he had played with Wicklow at under-21 level. He also had a spell as a player-manager with St Anne's. Having started out as a plumber, building up his own business, he later bought a pub in south Dublin in 1983. In recent years he remained active in helping organise reunions and was in the process of arranging the annual Dublin players' trip to the Algarve when I met him before the Dublin-Kerry reunion. It was evident how much he cherished those enduring friendships. He was a popular and personable personality. After he retired he became involved in a Dublin senior management team with Mullins and Kelleher, serving just one year in 1986. When that management team dissolved, Doherty stayed on as a selector with the next manager, Gerry McCaul. In their first year they won a terrifically exciting national league final against Kerry on a baking hot day in Croke Park, and in 1989, they dethroned Meath in Leinster before losing the All-Ireland semi-final to Cork. Doherty married Teresa Curran in 1971 and spoke appreciatively of her support. 'I was playing football, and hurling with the club, I had three or four sets of gear. And Teresa always had the bag in the hallway, one for the county and one for the club. When I was going out I never had to ask.' Seán Doherty, who died on July 7, is survived by his wife Teresa and his children Michelle, Seán, Julianne and Anthony.
Irish Independent
29 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Nadine Doherty: All-Ireland race might be open but the quality is on a downward arc
This year, ladies football has gone backwards and become very difficult to watch, so when looking ahead to next weekend's semi-finals I was immediately drawn back to the last team in each county to win the All-Ireland. Their predecessors all played a type of uninhibited and entertaining football that has been eroded from our game. Galway's 2004 team included the brilliance of Niamh Fahy, Annette Clarke, Lisa Cohill, Ruth Stephens and Niamh Duggan, between them it's unlikely they ever passed a ball backwards. Dublin 2023, the most impressive of Mick Bohan's six titles due to the loss of so much experience from previous years, their hunger and drive easily dispatched of Kerry in the final. Meath 2022, managed to achieve the unachievable by winning back-to-back titles and dispel the notion that they had been lucky to win one while playing a ferociously-paced brand of football.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Rugby international Robbie Henshaw joins the at-home sauna trend: ‘I can train and perform consistently'
Saunas are hot in every sense of the word. They're also everywhere – in your social feeds with friends snapping themselves mid-roast, on rooftops and in people's front gardens . Mobile units dot piers and coves around the entire coastline. For many of us, the social element is the clincher. But the art of sauna, a practice that has its origins in health, has been part of the Finnish way of life for thousands of years. Inscribed on the representative list of UNESCO 's intangible cultural heritage of humanity five years ago, it's caught a lot of heat in Ireland with löyly, the Finnish word for the sudden burst of steam that surges through the air when you ladle water on the stones, enchanting all demographics. None more than sports and fitness fans. Carpenter and recovery-fan John Needham grew up in Louisburg, Co Mayo with childhood friends, Matthew Dempsey, now a sports physiotherapist, and Ciaran O'Malley, an electrician. READ MORE John Needham of Sauna Craft Co and Slainte Sauna (l), Matthew Dempsey, Sauna Craft and Ciaran O'Malley, also Sauna Craft, pictured with one of their saunas in John's back garden in Kimmage, Dublin. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien He played rugby as a teen and recalls being brought into Westport leisure centre and made to do the sauna and ice bath treatments from the age of about 17. 'Most people did not want to go. There were plenty of squeals but that's the competitive point.' The trio were all tradesmen with similar sports backgrounds. Needham was building a sauna for himself about a decade ago and his friends gave him a hand. They enjoyed working together and decided to set up The Sauna Craft Co , supplying wellness pods to homes, as well as Sláinte Sauna , public saunas you pay to attend in Sandymount, Dublin 4 and Westport. John Needham of Sauna Craft Co lights up the sauna in the back garden of his house. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien Word soon got out, with elite sportspeople in particular noting what was on offer. The sports medicine, strength and conditioning (SSC) coach of the All Blacks, Nicholas Gill, heard about them and asked them to install a mobile sauna and an ice bath for the team at the Radisson Blu in Stillorgan. The inflatable ice baths measured 1200cm by 600cm and were 'big enough to get eight lads in. That was massive with the All Blacks,' he recalls. 'Some stayed in 10 minutes'. That time period demonstrates endurance and the team's competitive spirit. Then the Wallabies, the Australian rugby team, got in touch. Argentina also booked. And the Irish team's back-room people got in touch. They've been such a sizzling success that Leinster and Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw had the lads install a set-up for him in the back garden of his home. 'Recovery's become a priority for me. The sauna and ice bath help me stay on top of the workload, manage small niggles, and keep my body in a place where I can train and perform consistently. It's about doing the simple things well, day after day,' Henshaw says. In setting up the business, Needham checked the competition in Norway and Finland, and talked to people in eastern Europe. Every nation likes to sauna differently. 'In Finland they don't like temperatures over 90 degrees. In Hungary and Latvia, they like it at between 110 and 120 degrees, while in Ireland we like it at 100 degrees.' Saunas are hot, he says. 'Four years ago, nobody was buying saunas. Now we get about 20 emails a day.' At Sláinte Saunas a two-by-two-metre-barrel sauna with a six-kilowatt electric heater costs €4,200, while the same size, with a wood-burning stove costs €4,500.' Both sell equally well but there are usage caveats. The wood-burning sauna has a nice organic feel and offers nicer heat, but doesn't work in built-up areas where he counsels choosing the electric option. Build your own sauna (BYOS) About 150 metres from the crescent-shaped Reen beach on the edge of Derrynane, Daniel O'Connell's Co Kerry homestead, electrician Cian Boland renovated two adjoining cottages. He spent his weekends constructing a sauna out the back that he plans to offer as an add-on to visitors, especially those comi ng in shoulder and off seasons. Cian Boland built a sauna and plunge pool in his holiday lets in Kerry. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Cian Boland's sauna interior. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw But for now, it's a place for him and his friends to gather, shoot the breeze and run the short distance down to the water to cool off. They also have the option to take a dip in a step down into plunge pool he's built using old stone. It is filled with water softened by its journey down the mountain where it is redirected to pool within its stone surrounds. It is a work of art. Before construction, Boland spent a lot of time looking at sauna videos online, before he dug a foundation, cast it in concrete and then built a timber frame. He wrapped it in felt and plywood sheeting on the exterior, adding rolls of eco-insulation that he lined in a reflective foil to cast the heat back into the space. This was battened using non-treated timber, so that it would be non-toxic when the temperatures rise. The interior features black alder, a native species that he says has similar properties to cedar. He chose a two-tone look for the seating using aspen, a white timber, on the seats to give contrast. For ambience he added soft strip lighting, and a dressingroom area. This is made of larch and partially charred to bring out its grain, the floor tiled in a black limestone look. Cian Boland's sauna. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Cian Boland's plunge pool in Kerry. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw The four metre long by 2.5 metre wide space is long enough to stretch out flat in it and can comfortably fit up to eight. A slim clerestory window at the top helps to bring light in, while a big picture window looks up at the Sugarloaf Mountain. He bought the pillar-shaped wood-burning online from Finnish company Harvia. Its generous stone capacity ensures excellent steam production. He uses the soft mountain water on the stones. He sometimes adds essential oils. 'I'm partial to lavender and have a few blends too, lavender and clary sage.' He burns kiln-dried birch or beech that he buys by the pallet. 'The birch smells unbelievable.' A lot of work went into it. And it's been a bit of a labour of love, for excluding the hours he's put into its design and construction, he estimates it has cost about €10,000, with each sauna costing between €5 and €6 in wood and electricity. It was a rewarding project, he says. 'It's even better than how I imagined and sketched it. I still get goosebumps inside it. It is a very special space.' Cian Boland's sauna. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw The fuel that Cian uses in his sauna. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw A sauna within a home Limerick-based Deirdre Quirke prefers to sauna indoors in the creature comforts of her own home. She bought hers off the shelf from A Room Outside, on the city's Ballysimon Road, which stocks a wide selection of steam and outdoor options, as well as infrared designs. Hers is about the size of a wardrobe, measuring 1.9 metres high, and 90cm wide and deep, so it could technically be installed as part of a wardrobe system or into a bathroom that is being designed from plans. If you do so, you should leave space on top for ventilation and to be able to open the door, says owner of A Room Outside , Liam Whelan, who also counsels opening a window to allow fresh air to circulate. Originally, Quirke had wanted hers to be in her upstairs bathroom, but the device is plugged into the electric system using a three-pin plug, something that isn't considered safe in a bathroom setting. So, instead, she installed it in the guest room, which is next to the bathroom, and means she can jump straight into the shower afterwards. Her Saulo full spectrum infrared for one-person, which costs €1,999, has a glass-fronted door, and three heat panels, one on each side and one that sits into the back. She first came across this type of sauna in a friend's house in Drumaheir, Co Leitrim. It was years back, but it has since been on her 'must-have list' when she bought her own home. 'It's really good for muscles, back, circulation, for having a detox and getting a good sleep,' she explains. She uses it for durations of 30 minutes, fragrancing it with essential oils, and has a preference for eucalyptus or pine. She runs hers at sixty degrees. 'It's a gentle type of heat. You're not heating up the space, so it still feels nice and fresh.' She's had the family over to try it out. 'My mam loved it. My dad thought it was a very silly buy.' For her, 'it's an investment in yourself. That's how I see it.' There is nothing like having a sauna to yourself, she says. 'I can be naked. I can throw on a podcast or throw on some 1970s road trip music, gentle not loud. It's so nice for switching off.'
