Fagan back among goals

Longford Town 0 St Patrick's Athletic 3

Christy Fagan scored his first goal following his return from a long injury lay-off to re-ignite St Pat's Europa League pursuit.

Playing his first 90 minutes in over three months, Fagan hit St Pat's opener as they ended a four-match losing run in the league.

Victory narrows the gap on third-placed Shamrock Rovers to five points, though St Pat's have a game in hand.

Fagan drilled home Aaron Greene's cross to give the Saints a fourth-minute lead at the City Calling Stadium on Saturday night.

Conor O'Malley made two terrific saves from Longford's Gary Shaw before James Chambers' direct free-kick on 24 minutes doubled the visitors' lead.

Aaron Greene latched onto Killian Brennan's flick to shoot home Pat's third goal on 75 minutes.

"It's good to be back playing," said Fagan, top scorer in the domestic game last season. "The important thing was getting more minutes, but a goal is always nice.

"I tore a tendon in my right knee. I was battling it from early in the season," he explained of his injury. "I eventually had to get it sorted. I didn't need surgery, just injections.

"After the good season I had last year, it was a nightmare. I'm just happy enough now that I'm back."

Longford Town - Hunt; Haverty, Gorman, Sullivan, Powell; Shannon (Salmon h-t), Rice, O'Connor, Simon (Mulhall 74); Kelly (O'Sullivan 74), Shaw.

St Patrick's Athletic - O'Malley; O'Brien, Hoare, Browne, Bermingham; Chambers; Bolger (Morris 64), Brennan (Langley 78); Byrne (McGrath 69), Fagan, Greene.

Ref - Dave McKeon (Dublin)

----------------------------------------XXXXXX--------------------------

Puri edges Sligo closer to safety

Sligo Rovers 3 Bray Wanderers 2

Sligo Rovers' international class moved the Bit O'Red closer to safety at the Showgrounds on Saturday.

Estonian international Sander Puri and Danish striker Morten Nielsen were among the goals as the Bit O'Red came from behind to beat Bray.

Winger Puri was back in the team for the first time since featuring for his country in the Euro 2016 qualifiers, and he turned in a man-of-the-match display as Rovers extended their unbeaten run in the league to five games.

The win moved them to ninth in the table, and boss Micky Adams was full of praise for his side.

"It is a massive three points for us. I'm very proud of our players. I thought we played really well at times and stuck to the game-plan," he said.

"The players played with enthusiasm and all the things we have tried to implement on the training ground have come to fruition."

Bray took the lead when David Cassidy flicked the ball over the line from close range on 27 minutes, but less than a minute later Dinny Corcoran raced through to equalise.

Puri beat goalkeeper Peter Cherrie to a Jennison Myrie-Williams cross to edge Rovers in front early in the second half, before Nielsen finished confidently after breaking into the box shortly after the hour-mark.

Bray substitute Dave Scully pulled one back in injury-time.

Sligo Rovers - Brush, Boylan, Keane, Clancy, Donelon (Ledwith 71), Puri, Cawley, Hughes, Myrie-Williams, Nielsen (Keating 71), Corcoran (Elding 83).

Bray Wanderers - Cherrie, Barker, Douglas, Cooney (Mitchell 78), O'Reilly, Sullivan (Fitzpatrick 78), Cassidy, Kelly, McEvoy, Wixted (Scully 70), Lyons.

Ref - G Kelly

Limerick fans sing ‘that’s why you’re champions’ to Dundalk players after comeback

The SSE Airtricity League Premier Division leaders had been behind at Markets Field before the turnaround.

Limerick 1-3 Dundalk

DUNDALK CAN WIN the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division in Tallaght in a fortnight after they overcame a resilient Limerick side at the Markets Field.

As bottom hosted top, the basement side didn’t read the script.

Only seventy seconds of play had elapsed and Limerick had won a corner.

Shane Tracy stood over the set piece and his cross was met at the near post by a glancing header from Vinny Faherty. The ball ran across the face of goal before Dean Clarke smashed into the roof of the net from close range.

Dundalk’s pressure eventually told. Richie Towell peeled off to the far post on 76 minutes – latching onto Kilduff’s knock down to slide his effort under Hall.

Four minutes later, the champions elect were ahead. Towell again peeled away to the far post. This time, tightly marked, he turned and shot in hope. The effort took a deflection and flew past Hall.

The win was sealed two minutes later when Daryl Horgan fired a superb through ball through the heart of the Limerick backline. Kilduff was one-on-one and made no mistake.

LIMERICK: Freddy Hall; Shaun Kelly, Patrick Kanyuka, Robbie Williams, Shane Tracy; Shane Duggan, Paul O’Conor (Prince Agyemang, 87); Ian Turner, Lee-J Lynch (Sean Russell, 70), Dean Clarke; Vinny Faherty.

DUNDALK: Gary Rogers; Sean Gannon, Andy Boyle, Paddy Barrett, Dane Massey; Chris Shields (Stephen O’Donnell, 63), Richie Towell; Darren Meenan (John Mountney, 75), Ronan Finn, Daryl Horgan; David McMillan (Ciaran Kilduff, 67).

Referee: Neil Doyle (Dublin)

SOCCER »IRELAND

StandingsIRELAND: Premier League
26.09. 15:45	Finished	Sligo Rovers	3 - 2	Bray	(1 - 1)
26.09. 15:30	Finished	Longford	0 - 3	St. Patricks	(0 - 2)
26.09. 14:30	Finished	Limerick	1 - 3	Dundalk	(1 - 0)
25.09. 16:00	Finished	Shamrock Rovers	2 - 0	Galway	(1 - 0)
25.09. 15:45	Finished	Drogheda	2 - 2	Bohemians	(2 - 2)
25.09. 15:25	Finished	Cork City	0 - 0	Derry City	(0 - 0)
22.09. 16:00	Finished	Shamrock Rovers	1 - 0	Bray	(0 - 0)
19.09. 13:45	Finished	Bray	2 - 2	Limerick	(1 - 2)
18.09. 15:45	Finished	Bohemians	1 - 1	Longford	(1 - 1)
18.09. 15:45	Finished	Derry City	1 - 0	Shamrock Rovers	(0 - 0)
18.09. 15:25	Finished	Dundalk	6 - 0	Drogheda	(1 - 0)
05.09. 15:45	Finished	Galway	4 - 2	Longford	(1 - 0)
05.09. 15:00	Finished	Dundalk	2 - 2	Sligo Rovers	(1 - 0)
05.09. 14:30	Finished	Limerick	3 - 1	St. Patricks	(2 - 0)
05.09. 13:45	Finished	Bray	0 - 0	Cork City	(0 - 0)
05.09. 13:00	Finished	Derry City	0 - 2	Drogheda	(0 - 1)
05.09. 11:00	Finished	Shamrock Rovers	1 - 1	Bohemians	(0 - 1)
01.09. 16:00	Finished	Dundalk	2 - 0	Shamrock Rovers	(1 - 0)
31.08. 15:45	Finished	Cork City	3 - 1	St. Patricks	(2 - 0)
29.08. 15:45	Finished	Sligo Rovers	1 - 1	Shamrock Rovers	(1 - 0)

-------------------------------------XXXX---------------------

Go to:

Friday, 25 Sep 2015
Premier Division Cork City	0-0	Derry City
Premier Division Drogheda United	2-2	Bohemian FC
Premier Division Shamrock Rovers	2-0	Galway United
Saturday, 26 Sep 2015
Premier Division Limerick	1-3	Dundalk
Premier Division Longford Town	0-3	St. Patrick's Athletic
Premier Division Sligo Rovers	3-2	Bray Wanderers