Football: MANSARAN'S VA VA VOOM; EIRCOM LEAGUE: SLIGO ROVERS 3LONGFORD TOWN 1, SHOWGROUNDS Connor's own Thierry Henry can be driving force on Sligo's road to the top.

Byline: Garry DOYLE Chief Soccer Writer

HE IS big, fast, skillful, smart, brave and brilliant - and has the potential, his manager believes, to become Sligo's Thierry Henry.

Until Saturday night, no one would have given his manager's opinion any credibility, because until Saturday night, no one knew exactly what Darren Mansaran was capable of.

But now they know. This kid has class and if he can sustain Saturday's form then Sean Connor's assertion that Sligo Rovers will finish in the top six will come true.

But other factors would help. Sligo may have ability, organisation, a massive work ethic, and a hard core of top class talent, but they remain at least three players short of being the finished article.

"Well, I have three players ready to come in," said Connor.

"It's now a question of whether the board can give me the funds to spend on the squad."

If they can, Sligo could genuinely become a dark horse over the course of this season. Certainly they impressed on Saturday.

And most of all, Mansaran impressed, scoring two wonderful goals, the first a 25-yard volley after two minutes. The second a striker's finish, following a six-man passing move.

Connor said: "Darren Mansaran can be our Thierry Henry. He can be the best striker in the league if he wants to be.

"He has had injuries for two years and has barely played 90 minutes in that time. But I'm telling you, he's going to be good, the sort of player I want to build my squad around."

And you can see why. Aside from the goals, Mansaran's other qualities shone on Saturday, especially the way he recycled possession with such delightful simplicity.

But while he was the pick of the crop, he wasn't the only piece of quality produce on Connor's team.

In midfield, Conor O'Grady and Chris Turner were the side's key organisers and at the back Liam Burns and Michael McNamara held their defensive line.

Connor stated: "We were good but we can be better. I'd like us to become more ruthless and to eliminate certain mistakes.

"That said, I'd say that Saturday was a pivotal day in my tenure at Sligo because Longford was the team that I wanted us to emulate. And, on Saturday, we more than matched them."

For three-quarters of the game Sligo were the better, sharper side - scoring their goals at crucial stages - Mansaran's first after two minutes setting the tone.

From here they played intelligent, scripted football, clearly out of the coaching manual, given that their tactics were based on taking risk-free, sensible options.

The exception to this rule is Bosnian Faz Kudozovic who tries to be inventive but at times concedes cheap possession. But when his tricks come off they can lead to glory.

And so we saw in the 47th minute of Saturday's game when Kudozovic's flick created the space for O'Grady to supply Turner who infiltrated the Longford backline.

From Turner's subtle pass, Paul McTiernan stroked his cross onto Mansaran's head and Sligo were two up.

Five minutes later they were three ahead - Keith Foy ( scoring from the penalty spot after Kevin Doherty had fouled Kudozovic.

"There and then we had to be ruthless," insisted Connor.

"But instead we were complacent. And Longford got back into it."

And they did so courtesy of the night's best goal - a 40-yard-lob from sub Dave Mooney that left Sligo keeper John O'Hara stranded.

From here on in, it was Longford's game.

Foy had to clear Gary Cronin's shot off the line - and O'Hara, meanwhile, made two good saves from Robbie Martin.

He also saw another Martin strike go past him before it was subsequently ruled offside.

Town boss Alan Mathews said: "Our lack of conviction in front of goal summed up our performance on the night.

"We just weren't good enough. It was unacceptable. Poor. I haven't said that too often about those players because they are an honest bunch.

"But they didn't perform on Saturday and I'd say that was our worst performance of the season. We're now third from bottom and the hard work is only about to begin."

Sligo's next objective, meanwhile, is to carry their home form with them on their travels were they are yet to win.

Connor said: "There is no good reason for that.

"It is something I'm concerned about and something I'll look to address.

"We're positive about how the season has gone so far.

"But we're only going to get better as a team. We're really only beginning to settle."

CAPTION(S):

OPENING DOORS: Sligo manager Sean Connor has targeted three new signings ' FLYING MACHINE: Arsenal striker Thierry Henry' MIDFIELD MAESTRO: Conor O'Grady