Sligo Rovers Stun Dundalk with Late Equalizer
Gareth McElroy stabbed the ball over the line in stoppage time to rip two points out of Dundalk’s hands and breathe life into Sligo Rovers’ survival fight at Oriel Park.
What looked like a routine, workmanlike home win turned into another night of regret for Ciarán Kilduff’s side. For Darren Purse, still finding his feet in the Sligo dugout, it felt like the first real jolt of momentum.
Horgan hits his century – and Dundalk in control
Dundalk did almost everything right for 90 minutes.
They pinned Sligo back from the start, Sam Sargeant forced into a series of early interventions as Ronan Teahan, Daryl Horgan and Cian Dillon all tested the visiting goalkeeper inside 17 minutes. None of the efforts truly stretched him, but the pattern was set. White shirts on the front foot, red ones hanging on.
Sligo’s response was fleeting. On 19 minutes, new signing Jack Shorrock finally got forward on the left and whipped in a cross that Luke Pearce met well enough, climbing highest in the box. The header, though, lacked conviction and dropped tamely into Enda Minogue’s arms. It would be their only effort of the half.
The hosts smelled blood.
Trevor Clarke, sharp and aggressive all evening, stepped in from the left on 20 minutes and let fly from the edge of the area. His shot thundered off the crossbar with Sargeant beaten, a warning that Sligo failed to heed. Soon after, Bobby Burns arrived unmarked at the edge of the box but lashed over, another chance passed up.
Then came the miss that summed up Dundalk’s season. Horgan’s corner found Clarke completely unmarked eight yards out, the left side of the goal yawning. The former Shamrock Rovers man only had to hit the target. He didn’t. The ball flashed wide, and Sligo escaped again.
Dundalk went in at the break dominant but somehow level, a familiar story for a team that has repeatedly squandered winning positions.
Century strike – and a game that should have been killed
The second half began with a scare for the home crowd. Four minutes after the restart, Shorrock broke in behind Mayowa Animasahun and forced Minogue into a sharp tip over the bar. From the resulting corner, McElroy glanced a header just wide. It was a reminder that Sligo, for all their struggles, could still hurt you.
The response from Dundalk was swift and ruthless.
On 52 minutes, Clarke again drove at the Sligo back line and slipped Dillon into space. His ball looked destined for Harry Groome, but when it skipped away from the midfielder he had the awareness to roll it back to his captain. Horgan didn’t hesitate. One touch to set, then a fierce drive high into the net.
It was Horgan’s 100th goal of his club career and his 60th in Dundalk colours, a milestone strike that felt entirely in keeping with the night. The Lilywhites had their lead. They had their talisman on the scoresheet. They had control.
They just never killed the game.
Shorrock’s deep free-kick forced Minogue into another save, but most of the traffic continued towards Sargeant. The Sligo keeper produced one of the moments of the match when Horgan nodded down for Dillon and the young forward looked certain to score from close range. Sargeant stood tall, spread himself and somehow blocked the effort at point-blank range.
Horgan then saw a free-kick deflect just wide on 78 minutes, the ball shaving past the post with Sargeant scrambling. Four minutes from time, Teahan unleashed a ferocious strike that seemed destined for the top corner until Sargeant flung himself across to claw it away.
Dundalk had the chances. The pressure. The territory. Everything but the second goal.
Sligo pounce on late chaos
The punishment arrived in stoppage time.
With the game drifting towards a home win, a hopeful ball was swung into the Dundalk box. Minogue came to claim it and misjudged it badly, caught in no-man’s land as the ball spilled loose. Trey George reacted quickest, getting a shot away in the scramble.
The effort ricocheted into the path of McElroy. No finesse, no time to think. He simply lunged and toe-poked the ball home.
Sligo’s bench erupted. Purse punched the air. Dundalk players slumped where they stood, the pattern of their season laid bare in one messy, chaotic moment.
For the Lilywhites, it was a fifth consecutive game in which they had led but failed to win. They have now dropped 26 points from winning positions this season – four more than Sligo have managed in total.
For Sligo, it was a different kind of statistic that mattered. Two games under their new manager, two late goals conceded and scored, and two points on the board. They remain bottom, separated only by goal difference, but this felt like more than a single point.
Next up is a trip to Derry City, armed with a dramatic equaliser, a little belief, and the sense that if they can survive nights like this, they might just survive the season.
