Rovers leave Ukraine with a draw

 Rovers deservedly leave Ukraine with a 0-0 draw to bring back to The Showgrounds, but in all honesty, we should be returning with more than a draw.

Photo courtesy of Shane Murray

Rovers had the first opportunity in the opening minutes when Joseph Ndo delivered a free into the box, but is cleared by Poltava. Poltava then had their own attack almost immediately after the free kick, but it came to nothing when Brendan Clarke easily collected the ball.

Clarke was on hand again minutes later when he got to the ball which the under pressure Poltava striker failed to make the most of. Roman Bezus, who was looking lively early on managed to make room for himself on the edge of the box, but sent his shot over the bar.

Ahmed Januzi, one of the teams dangermen, had the next chance to try and score, but rather than keep playing, he chose to stop to appeal for handball, allowing the Rovers defence to clear the danger.

Rafael Cretaro had the first real chance of the night when he cut into the Poltava box, but dragged his shot wide of the far post as The Bit O' Red began to look a bit more lively.

In a rare lapse in concentration, Ndo gave the ball away which Bezus picked up and went past McGuinness before firing at goal, but Clarke was there to palm the effort behind for a corner.

Clarke was called into duty again as he had to get down well to save from who else but Bezus, who was clearly eager to get on the scoresheet tonight.

Rovers looked to have scored an all important away goal on the half hour mark when Velychko fumbled the ball in his box from the delivery of a corner. McGuinness throw up his leg and knocked into the goal, but it was disallowed in what was probably deemed as a foul on the 'keeper by the referee, a very soft decision.

Armend Dallku, another player who was looking lively as he terrorised Conor Powell in the first half, got a low ball across the face of goal, but no one was there to finish.

Kirby looked like he had a great chance to score from the edge of the box, but unfortunately the ball got caught under his feet and he failed to get a pass away to teammate. Minutes later Kirby looked to be in again, but was correctly ruled as offside.

Keane almost scored with a somewhat ambitious effort just before the break when Matthew Blinkhorn won a free kick 35 yards from goal. Ndo laid the ball off to Keane who's effort from distance actually wasn't very far away.

Poltava had the final chance of the half when Pavlo Rebenok won a free 20 yards from goal. Jovan Markoski stepped up to take, but sent it well over the bar.

With a great goalkeeping display from Brendan Clarke and a bit of luck, Rovers entered the break 0-0 at half-time but will have also felt a little hard done by not to have gone in 1-0 up through Jason McGuinness.

With 4 minutes of the 2nd half played, Alan Kirby is surely still wondering right now how he didn't give us the lead. Cretaro took a long ball down in acres of space and made his way into the box before putting a low ball in which was pushed out by Velychko, but only as far as Kirby who managed to send the ball over the bar from about 6 yards.

You could already tell there was a new sense of belief and confidence in the team, and Ndo went for a sensational goal when he attempted to lov the keeper from 45 yards, but failed to keep it down.

All Rovers fans thought they had seen Poltava awarded a penalty when the referee headed towards the spot, but it was actually to book Bezus for a blatent dive.

Ndo was very harshly booked for apparently taking down Januzi, but as replays showed, it was actual a shocking dive. Ndo had every right to be furious with both Januzi and the ref.

Substitute Eoin Doyle when he met a corner with his head, but he could only direct it past the near post. Cretaro then had an even better chance when he got in behind Kurilov, but put too much power behind his shot and lifted the ball over the bar from about 15 yards.

At this point, Poltava were the ones getting tired and frustrated rather than Rovers, who were now full of confidence and looking like they could get a valuable away goal. Cretaro was in again moments later, but the keeper was able to get to the ball before the Tubbercurry Tornado could strike.

Rebenok had a rare 2nd half chance for Poltava when he rose at the back post, but failed to keep his header down from 6 yards. A moment of madness ensued in the Rovers box as the Ukranian side had (at least) 3 attempts to shoot at goal, but failed with each.

Rovers won a corner 5 minutes from time, and when Ndo whipped yet another accurate ball into the box, it looked like Rovers got the goal they deserved, but amazingly the referee disallowed it. Replays showed that Velychko had actually knocked it into his own net, but unless I see more replays, I fail to see how that could possibly have been disallowed.

It became end to end stuff, but with little in terms of actual chances as the game came to an end. So after 2 sitters and 2 surprisingly disallowed goals, Rovers leave Ukraine with a 0-0 all draw, but I think we would have all happily taken that result before the game. A great result to get and i'm fully confident we can finish the job in The Showgrounds next week.

Vorskla Poltava: Velycko, Dallku, Kurilov, Selin, Krasnopyorov, Bezus (Oberemko, 73 mins), Markoski (Zakarliuka, 45 mins), Chesnakov, Rebenok, Januzi, Kryvosheyenko (Sachko, 81 mins)

Subs not used: Ospienko, Matveyev, Vovkodav, Dolaganskiy

Sligo Rovers: Clarke, Keane, McGuinness, Peers, Powell, Cretaro (Davoren, 77 mins), Kirby, Ndo, Ryan, Greene (Doyle, 63 mins), Blinkhorn (Russell, 93 mins)

Subs not used: Kelly, Foran, Ventre, Dillon

thebitoredblog Man of the Match: Joseph Ndo