Ross Tierney scored a cracking brace as Bohemians had to effectively win this thriller not once but twice in what was a pulsating battle of the bottom two at Dalymount Park.
Bohs blew an early two-goal lead against a suspension and injury hit Sligo Rovers before Tierney broke the visitors' resolve on 74 minutes.
Skipper Dawson Devoy capped a terrific display when adding a fourth goal to three assists deep in added time.
Victory, only Bohs' second in their last 15 in the league in Phibsborough, moves them up to seventh in the Premier Division table to relieve the pressure on head coach Alan Reynolds.
A sixth defeat of the campaign sees Sligo remain rooted to the foot of the table.
A remarkable first half saw Bohemians race into a 2-0 lead inside five minutes only to surrender it by the half hour mark.
Devoy was the instigator for both Bohs early strikes, the first in the third minute after a clumsy foul by Oskar van Hattum on Dayle Rooney.
Devoy went for goal from the free kick. And though Conor Walsh parried the shot, Collie Whelan showed his striker’s instinct to scoop home the rebound for his fourth goal of the season.
Two minutes later Rooney burst forward to find Devoy who set up Tierney who curled home from the edge of the area.
Though stunned, Sligo responded well with Owen Elding scuffing a shot straight at Kacper Chorazka from Will Fitzgerald’s cross when he really should have scored.
A loose throw-in from Bohs’ Jordan Flores then gifted Elding the ball, the 19-yer-old getting it onto his left foot to drill just wide.
In end-to-end action, Bohs then twice came close to extending their lead through Flores and Tierney before Sligo struck back in the 24th minute of a frenetic game.
With the home defence floundering, Ronan Manning released Francely Lomboto down the middle for the big striker to run on and crash his shot through the legs of Chorazka to the net.
The openings continued to come thick and fast as Sligo might have been level two minutes later, Chorazka parrying away a low drive from Manning with Elding firing the rebound over the top.
But the teenager made amends a minute after that when equalising, the impressive Manning having released him in behind down the right.
A rush of blood by Chorazka saw him race outside his area into no-man’s land. Elding simply pushed the ball past the stranded keeper to keep his composure this time and shoot into the unguarded net.
As they did in the first half, Bohs began the second very much on the front foot.
What a game in Dalymount!
— League of Ireland (@LeagueofIreland) April 4, 2025
Ross Tierney with the goal to put Bohs back in front. pic.twitter.com/1tTe48r09G
Tierney rifled a free kick round a post before Walsh made a terrific point-blank save to deny Whelan on 53 minutes.
Walsh was there again to thwart Tierney while Lys Mousset, a minute after coming on, somehow failed to connect with John Mountney’s cross dead in front of goal.
Injuries forced Sligo into bringing in academy youngsters Kyle McDonagh and Daire Patton as they looked to hang on against mounting Bohs pressure.
But that finally told on 74 minutes when Bohs regained the lead.
A Whelan flick found Devoy who provided his third assist of the night to set up Tierney to cut inside Conor Reynolds before blasting a right-footer past Walsh.
A moment of magic from Dawson Devoy to seal all three points for Bohs!💫 pic.twitter.com/MNMk388xKm
— League of Ireland (@LeagueofIreland) April 4, 2025
A defensive mistake then gifted Devoy his deserved goal on 96 minutes, delightfully chipping Walsh from some 40 yards.
Bohemians: Kacper Chorazka; John Mountney, Alex Lacey (Leigh Kavanagh 37), Sean Grehan (Liam Smith, 90), Jordan Flores (Lys Mousset 58); Niall Morahan, James McManus; Dayle Rooney, Dawson Devoy, Ross Tierney (Keith Buckley 90); Colm Whelan (James Clarke 90).
Sligo Rovers: Conor Walsh; Oskar van Hattum (Harvey Lintott h-t; Daire Patton 51), Ollie Denham (Conor Reynolds 20), Gareth McElroy, Reece Hutchinson; Mattie Wolfe, Connor Malley; Ronan Manning (Kyle McDonagh 67), Owen Elding, Will Fitzgerald; Francely Lomboto.
Referee: David Dunne (Dublin).
Attendance: 4,289.
