Sligo Rovers take a narrow 2-1 lead into the second leg of their Europa Conference League first qualifying round tie with Bala Town.
Bala Town jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the sixth minute versus Sligo Rovers in the first leg only to concede twice to lose the match. Rovers player Aidan Keena levelled the score on 28 minutes and the match went into halftime at 1-1.
Two days to go 🙌Preparations continue this morning as we get ready to take on Bala Town on Thursday night.Get your tickets https://t.co/NYqNnIwvdW pic.twitter.com/jlNJdrMRaP— Sligo Rovers (@sligorovers) July 12, 2022
Two days to go 🙌Preparations continue this morning as we get ready to take on Bala Town on Thursday night.Get your tickets https://t.co/NYqNnIwvdW pic.twitter.com/jlNJdrMRaP
Four minutes after the restart, Sligo Rovers’ Max Mata put the visitors ahead. The fight back wasn’t without is collateral damage as Nando Pijnaker was sent off with 11 minutes left on the clock. Pijnaker will miss the second leg at home.
Bala Town were eliminated from the Europa Conference League at this stage last season by Larne, 2-0 on aggregate. Manager Colin Caton led Bala Town to a second-place finish in the Welsh Premier League last term to qualify for this stage of the Conference League.
Sligo Rovers ended the 2021 League of Ireland Premier Division in third place allowing them to qualify for the Conference League qualifying rounds. This is their second straight season at this stage of competition.
In 2021-22, Sligo Rovers were knocked out in the first qualifying round by Iceland’s FH. Manager John Russell has Sligo Rovers midtable and in good form domestically heading into Thursday’s home second leg.
Rovers are in the middle of the Ireland Premier Division season. They are five-matches unbeaten in the league, but haven’t played domestically since July 2. Rovers have had the chance to rest players and build-up to Thursday’s Europa Conference League second leg match.
The Welsh Premier League season won’t kick off until August 12. Bala Town do not have the form that Sligo Rovers have heading into the match. However, Caton’s players are fresh.
Keena, who scored Sligo Rovers’ opener in the first leg, is the Ireland Premier Division’s leading scorer with 11 goals. He has tallied 35% of the team’s scoring domestically and 50% of their scoring in the Europa Conference League.
Bala Town were led in goals by striker Chris Venables in 2021-22. Venables scored 17 goals for Bala Town, but failed to find the back of the net in the first leg versus Sligo Rovers. Venables should be in line for a start versus Rovers.
New-signing James Davies is also in line for a start on the right side of the Bala Town attack. Fellow new signing Luke Wall could play in the left of the attack.
Bala Town let a lead slip versus Sligo Rovers, but this time, the Welsh side should hang onto a lead. The Welsh side should pick up a 1-0 win, forcing the match into extra-time.