Motherwell vs Sligo Rovers

Motherwell welcome Sligo Rovers to Fir Park on Thursday evening in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League, with the Scottish Premier ...

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Aidan Keena scored the only goal of the game as Sligo Rovers secured a famous first-leg away win over Scottish Premiership side Motherwell in the Europa ...

There was a swerving set piece from Morris which McNicholas shifted his body weight in time to control the play just short of the hour. Although the Mayo man did have a moment of worry when he came to meet Morris’ corner in the 16th minute. Fitzgerald then saw his looping header from an O’Sullivan cross land on the top of Kelly’s net shortly after, much to the disapproval of a now vexed home following. As expected, Rovers had to deal with a lot of pressure for the remainder of the half. Bevis Mugabi failed to control a diagonal ball from the right, allowing Keena to steal in and lob the oncoming Kelly, much to the delight of the sizeable travelling support of 500 or so. A mix-up between McNicholas and Banks allowed the ball to fall to Motherwell’s Barry Maguire who made a mess of the follow up, firing well wide.

Sligo Rovers claimed a famous European win in Scotland with a shock 1-0 defeat of Premiership side Motherwell at Fir Park. The outstanding Aidan Keena claimed ...

The crucial goal came on 27 minutes, as Keena capitalised on some sloppy play at the back from the home side and he delightfully lobbed Motherwell goalkeeper Liam Kelly. The outstanding Aidan Keena claimed his 13th goal of the season – and his second in Europe this month – as John Russell’s side claimed the advantage ahead of next week’s second leg at the Showgrounds. In front of over 7,000 supporters, including almost 500 from Sligo, the visiting team deservedly claimed a memorable triumph, just four days after losing feebly at home to UCD in the league.

Motherwell boss Graham Alexander started all three of his new signings in Paul McGinn, Blair Spittal and Josh Morris, while striker Kevin van Veen took his ...

Motherwell were given a let-off in 84 minutes when sub Max Mata's header appeared to be handled on the line by Carroll, but a corner was given. Callum Slattery tested McNicholas with a drive in 73 minutes, but the keeper parried before the danger was cleared. Sligo took the lead in 27 minutes when Mugabi was short with a passback and Keena raced onto it before lobbing the ball over Kelly and into the net. Morris curled a free kick towards the top right corner in 58 minutes, but McNicholas was equal to it. Motherwell were nearly gifted the opener in 21 minutes when a slack passback by Paddy Kirk let van Veen through on the right, and his shot was blocked by keeper Luke McNicholas, but landed just too far ahead of Morris, and his effort was also repelled. Sligo went close again in eight minutes when Buckley's cross from the left was met on the volley by Lewis Banks, but Liam Kelly made a smart save on the line.

Keena scored the only goal of the game. Image: Craig Watson/INPHO. Motherwell 0. Sligo Rovers 1. Jessica Farry reports from Fir Park. SLIGO ROVERS ...

The hosts will wonder how they didn’t go ahead on 22 minutes. Rovers arguably had the best of the early chances, although Motherwell had a lot of the ball in what was a fairly even opening to the game. Shortly after the re-start, McNicholas had to be on his toes to get behind a powerful drive from Van Veen. The vocal home support was silenced on 27 minutes when Rovers took the lead thanks to a defensive mishap. Rovers are leading 1-0 thanks to a lob from Aidan Keena early in the first-half, in what was a superb performance from the Bit O’Red. Will Fitzgerald almost got on the end of a dangerous cross with 30 seconds on the clock in what was a bright start for the Bit O’Red, the home fans relieved when they saw the effort sail over.

Former Hearts and Falkirk striker Aidan Keena continued his impressive goalscoring streak to earn Sligo Rovers a Europa Conference League victory over Motherwell. Keena capitalised on a major blunder from Bevis Mugabi to net the only goal of the first ...

About 450 visiting fans added to the occasion along with a claret and amber display along the length of the John Hunter Stand. Mugabi was under little pressure but got nowhere near enough power on his header back towards Liam Kelly and Keena ran on to the ball and lobbed the stranded goalkeeper. Hundreds of fans marched through the streets in a colourful and noisy procession to Fir Park and the three home stands looked full. McNicholas was off his line to deny Van Veen after the restart and soon saved a Morris free-kick, but the 22-year-old was not particularly busy and Fitzgerald came close to a second when he headed on to the roof of the net. Aidan Keena capitalised on a major blunder from Bevis Mugabi to net the only goal of the first leg of the second qualifying round at Fir Park; the 23-year-old has now scored 13 goals in 12 games since returning to Ireland in January from Falkirk. Keena capitalised on a major blunder from Bevis Mugabi to net the only goal of the first leg of the second qualifying round at Fir Park.

Keena struck his 13th goal of 2022 with a deft lob, while goalkeeper Luke McNicholas, and centre-back Garry Buckley were also outstanding for Rovers.

In the last five minutes Mata had a close-range header kept out, while Luke McNicholas made yet another fine stop when he grabbed a goalbound header from Josh Morris. The home side brought on former Bohemians player Ross Tierney for the last 25 minutes and he gave Sligo a scare with a shot into the side-netting from a lovely pass by Josh Morris. Sligo stunned the hosts when taking a 27th-minute lead when Aidan Keena netted from a classy lob after a defensive mistake from Bevis Mugabi.

Former Hearts and Falkirk striker Aidan Keena scored the only goal in the Europa Conference League second qualifying round first leg.

“It’s a massive win for Sligo,” he added. “But we are getting up to speed. “Like I say, we created more than enough chances to win,” he said. “I thought there was a little bit of slowness in our play before they scored, we took too many touches. “The goal speaks for itself. It was an obvious mistake but an honest one.