Sligo turn on the style to leave sloppy City further adrift

Sligo Rovers 3 Cork City 0 

SLIGO Rovers turned on the style to inflict a hefty 3-0 defeat of fellow strugglers Cork City at The Showgrounds.

The hosts dominated and took control with a first-half goal from leading scorer Max Mata and added two more goals in the second-half through Johan Brannefalk and Stefan Radosavljevic.

This loss increases the pressure on Cork, who have now lost 13 times this season, with Sligo moving up to seventh position above Drogheda United.

Aside from both clubs viewing this fixture as a potential turning-the-corner moment in their respective inconsistent seasons, the night’s other subplot was the return of Cork’s interim boss Liam Buckley to The Showgrounds.

The Dubliner, one of the most esteemed dugout stalwarts in the League of Ireland, was previously manager of Sligo and following his departure from the north-west in May of last year he was replaced by his former assistant John Russell, who is Sligo’s current manager.

Sligo, only one place and three points above ninth-placed Cork in the table at kickoff, had only won one of their previous five games, with Cork also recording just one victory from their last five fixtures.

The visitors included recent signing Rokas Stanulevicius, a midfielder, in their matchday squad, while Sligo had new acquisition Pedro Martelo, a former Portuguese underage international, on the bench.

A sloppy Cork clearance gave Sligo their first sight of goal in the third minute but Kailin Barlow’s well-struck shot was parried by Cork netminder Jimmy Corcoran.

Sligo sought to impose themselves in the trying weather conditions, with Cork having to mainly defend. Mata, Sligo’s top scorer, got a header on target from a Barlow cross but it was within reach of Corcoran,