Jimmy Keohane scored two penalties as Galway United piled more misery on a Sligo Rovers side who now sit 11 points off Drogheda United at the bottom of the table.
John Caulfield’s side came from a goal down early on to claim a win that sees them move into sixth place in the table.
Ahead of tonight’s game, Rovers were looking doomed having not won a league game since May 22. Even with that in mind, manager Darren Purse made six changes for the visit of Galway United with goalkeeper Liam Hughes and teenagers Aidan Gabbidon and Reuben Gillespie making their first starts.
Purse used this as an opportunity for those players to stake their claim in the team, regardless of what division they will be in next year. And to their credit, they started brightly at the Showgrounds.
The Bit O’Red hadn’t scored a goal in their last three league games, but Cian Kavanagh opened the scoring after eight minutes after a nice bit of play involving Archie Meekison and James McManus.
Galway will have been furious about their start, but they responded well and soon turned it around. Keohane made it one apiece from the penalty spot after Kris Twardek was taken down inside the box by McManus.
It felt like a bit of a turning point as Galway started to turn the screw, and they went ahead on 39 minutes thanks to Stephen Walsh, who nodded in at the back post after a brilliant cross from Twardek.
The home side were pushing hard in the second half, but were really struggling to create clear-cut chances, with Jack Shorrock’s effort off the post as close as they would come.
As they kept pushing, Galway got a third as goalkeeper Liam Hughes tripped the onrushing Dylan Connolly. Keohane again stepped up and made no mistake, to make sure of all three points.