Sporting Fingal 1-1 Sligo Rovers

Gary O'Neill put Sporting Fingal ahead at Morton Stadium early in the second half but Padraig Amond's equaliser five minutes later ensured the hero of last year's FAI Cup final didn't spoil Rovers' day again.

After a tense first-half when Stephen Paisley's header off the post
was the nearest the hosts came to scoring, O'Neill twisted past Alan Keane on the edge of the box on 52 minutes before tucking a shot into the far corner.

But hesitancy by Paisley soon after allowed Amond to dispossess the Fingal skipper and angle a low shot past Brendan Clarke.

Neither side threatened enough in the attacking department to merit all three points but Fingal would have been disappointed not to have converted their territorial dominance into more clear-cut chances.

Following their narrow 1-0 loss at champions Bohemians last week, manager Liam Buckley made two enforced changes as injured full-backs Ger O'Brien and Lorcan Fitzgerald were replaced by Stephen Paisley and Alan Kirby.

Sligo boss Paul Cook, meanwhile, kept faith with the same line-up that earned a well-deserved point against Shamrock Rovers at the Showgrounds.

His close-season capture from the Hoops, Padraig Amond, showed a clean pair of heels on five minutes to outpace Paisley from Gary McCabe's through ball but the Carlow man sliced his shot beyond the far post with Clarke beaten.

Paisley was close to redeeming himself at the other end two minutes later by peeling off his marker to connect with Shaun Williams' free-kick and his downward header rebounded off the post.

Conan Byrne fizzed a shot wide and Alan Kirby forced a tip-over from Brush for Fingal as they upped a gear close to the break while, three minutes short of the break, O'Neill's claim of a hand-ball against the Sligo 'keeper as he raced out of his box was waved away by Neil Doyle.

However, O'Neill would have his moment of joy early in the second as Byrne fed the striker with a long ball and, after cutting back in onto his favoured right-foot, he picked his spot with a precise shot.

Two minutes later, Byrne was teed up by O'Neill's back-heel but the winger failed to work Brush with a low drive.

That missed chance would be rued as Sligo drew level on 58 minutes. Paisley looked in no danger when controlling the ball on the edge of the box but Amond nipped in to capitalise with a smashing piece of finishing.

Late on, Brush allowed Ronan Finn's pile-driver spill from his grasp but recovered well while the custodian displayed his agility three minutes from the end when the defender's shot from the left took a slight deflection.

Sporting Fingal (4-3-3): Clarke; Browne, Paisley, Maher, Quinn; Finn, Williams, McFaul; C. Byrne, O'Neill, Kirby (Crowe 77)
Subs not used: Quigley, Zayed, Gannon, James

Sligo Rovers: Brush; Whelan, Keane, Peers, Davoren; McCabe (Dillon 70), Ryan, Ventre, Doyle; Blinkhorn, Amond (Doninger 90).
Subs not used: O'Grady, Almeida, Kelly.

Referee: N. Doyle (Dublin).

Attendance: 1267