Sligo get season back on track as Pat Spillane and Alan McLoughlin goals fire them past Tipperary in Tailteann Cup
SLIGO got their season back on track thanks to goals from Pat Spillane and Alan McLoughlin in this win against Tipperary.
With the Yeats County's traditional home at Markievicz Park in Sligo Town
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1
Pat Spillane scored one of Sligo's two goals against Tipperary
Credit: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
And around 2,000 fans were inside the venue yesterday for this Group 1 Tailteann Cup clash.
But it was the visitors who struck first when a long delivery from Paudie Feehan landed in the
Sligo
net with just three minutes on the clock.
Seán O'Connor then followed up to extend the lead shortly afterwards.
But two points each from Niall Murphy and David Quinn got the home side back to within a point of the Premier.
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Sligo then took the lead when Cian Lally linked up with McLoughlin.
After the forward's shot was saved by Shane Ryan, Spillane was first to pounce on the rebound to blast the ball into the back of the net.
An injury to Murphy, the team's talisman, might have opened the door for Tipperary but instead Sligo carried on regardless, eventually scoring 2-4 unanswered while Tipperary went more than 20 minutes without landing a point.
When McLoughlin added the second goal and Alan Reilly followed up with a point, Sligo were seven points clear and were looking on course for a comfortable victory in front of the home fans.
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But perhaps they felt they owed their supporters some drama and Seán O'Connor shot 1-1 before half-time, with his goal coming from the penalty spot. Local hero and full-back Eddie McGuinness was also black-carded for his foul on Kieran Costello that had led to the goal.
There was further drama when Sligo were briefly reduced to 13 men after Shane Deignan received the same sanction as McGuinness early in the second half.
Owen Mulligan teases Lee Keegan over hilarious contrast in how their inter-county GAA careers ended
Tipp took advantage of their numerical advantage with three points in a row to level the tie, including a superb
strike
from Cian Smith.
But, just as happened in the first half, the visiting side lapsed into a long scoring drought — this time going nearly half an hour without raising a flag.
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Sligo were not prolific themselves, but they did enough, with Patrick O'Connor, McLoughlin and Spillane all hitting the
target
.
And after a tense 14-minute spell in which neither side gave the scoreboard operator anything to worry about, substitutes Ross Doherty and Darragh Cummins fired over the late points.
And the scores secured a win for the hosts, which they no doubt hope will give them a huge boost in advance of their short trip to Carrick-on-Shannon
next
Sunday for their match against
SLIGO
: D Lyons, E Lyons, E McGuinness, P McNamara, B Cox, N Mullen, L Towey, P Kilcoyne, P O'Connor 0-2, C Lally, D Quinn 0-2, A Reilly 0-2, A McLoughlin 1-3, 2f, N Murphy 0-2, P Spillane 1-2.
Subs
: S Deignan for Murphy 23 mins, D Conlon Deignan 49, D Cummins 0-1 for Kilcoyne 53, R Doherty 0-1 for Cox 61, M Gordon for Reilly 65.
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TIPPERARY
: S Ryan, M McFadden, J Feehan, J Harney, M Stokes 0-1, L Boland, J O'Neill, P Feehan 1-0, K Costello, M Freaney 0-1m, D Hogan, S O'Brien 0-3, 1tp, C Smith 0-1, D Brennan, S O'Connor 1-4, 1-0 pen, 2f.
Subs
: M O'Shea for Brennan 32 mins, M Russell for O'Neill 46, E Moloney for Harney 50, J Morris for Feehan 61, B Comerford for Hogan 70.
REFEREE
: S Hurson (Tyrone)
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