Premier County punish profligate Sligo

Sean O'Connor hit the crucial goal as Tipperary secured their first league win of the season at home to Sligo.

The Westerners had won their opening two games with a scoring differential of +25, but their inability to convert goalscoring chances scuppered their chances at Semple Stadium.

Tipp hit the front early through a placed ball from Conor Sweeney – sporting several stitches on his leg from a belt in training during the week – and Mikey O’Shea’s curling effort.

Luke Towey soon flipped the script for Sligo on seven minutes when he drove into the Premier area and ballooned a fierce effort to the back of the net.

Given their strong form, the visitors might have expected to kick on but instead the Blue and Gold hit 1-05 unanswered.

O’Shea, midfielders Paudie Feehan (two) and Mark Russell, and Jack Kennedy split the posts, with a major coming in between.

That came on 13 minutes when O’Shea fed the ball to O’Connor heading towards the Sligo penalty area.

O’Connor was held up initially, but the 19-year-old gathered the ball once more and bulldozed his way past a defender, before smashing to the back of the net from eight yards.

Tipp then went on a 15-minute barren run during which time the Yeats County settled themselves with a brace of points each from Alan Reilly and Niall Murphy.

Sweeney missed a goal chance at the start of the second half and Robbie Kiely fired over a point when clean through a couple of minutes later.

In between, Towey fisted over a score for Sligo, as the Connacht men went four in arrears on 40 minutes at 1-10 to 1-06.

The Connacht side had plenty of opportunities to turn the tide in the next 20 minutes but were wasteful in front of the posts.

Pat Hughes and Sean Carrabine (free) found the range for Sligo but a