LUK OUT

Debutant Browning hits back at champs with last gasp equaliser

- PAUL O’HEHIR

Sligo Rovers 1

Shamrock Rovers 1

SLIGO ROVERS newcomer Lukas Browning became an instant hit after firing a 95th-minute equaliser to deny Shamrock Rovers.

Graham Burke had put the Hoops on the front foot with a first-half, arrowed goal and the champions appeared to be starting the season as they mean to go on.

But after Roberto Lopes saw red for raising his hands to Kailin Barlow, the Bit O’Red threw the kitchen sink at their rivals for the closing 25 minutes.

That manic finish was certainly desperate and the Hoops must have thought they had done enough to see it out.

Alan Mannus denied Will Fitzgerald and Dan Cleary, Neil Farrugia and Gary O’Neill all put their bodies on the line to block shots.