Finn Harps will be hoping to bounce back from their defeat last weekend when they make the long trip south on Friday to take on Waterford United at the RSC (kick-off 7.45pm).
Although Waterford only won their first game of the season last weekend, at the seventh time of asking, Harps manager Ollie Horgan said that they will still provide a tough task for his team on Friday.
“Waterford are a very difficult team to beat, especially down there,” said Horgan as he prepares for the trip to the south-east.
“We were lucky to get a draw at home against them when we played them on the opening day of the season. They haven’t conceded in their last three games so they will be very difficult to break down.
“They have loads of attacking options in their team including Vinny Sullivan, Willie John Keily, Conor Meade and Jack Doherty to mention a few, so we know they have the firepower to damage us.”
Last weekend, Horgan watched his side lose for the second time this season in a 1-0 away defeat in Longford. However, the game was decided by a dubious penalty and Horgan felt his side deserved something from the game.
“Had we been beaten by three or four, out the door if you like, we might be more content and I could stand here and say: ‘The better side won’,” Horgan said.
“It’s hard. The penalty decision was very, very harsh. Really, there wasn’t a whole lot in it apart form that. It’s hard to take. It was a decent cross, nothing great. Packie seemed to stumble into it and he seemed to be pushed into it in a way, but that’s not for me to stay.
“We didn’t get the rub of the green, but so be it. We won’t dwell too much on it. We matched them for most of the ninety minutes, but we got nothing out of it.,” said Horgan.
“We limited them to a couple of chances. They are very strong at set pieces, their delivery and movement is excellent. We dealt with that, but then we conceded the penalty. Longford are a decent side with some serious players.”
Although Harps were defeated 3-0 on their last visit to the RSC in June, they were unbeaten in their previous four visits there (3 draws and 1 victory). The two clubs met in the opening day of the 2014 season at Finn Park, with the game ending in a scoreless draw.
Kevin McHugh remains out while Sean McCarron is also a doubt ahead of Friday’s trip to the RSC. Tommy Bonner serves a one match suspension for accumulating four yellow cards, while Keith Cowan serves the second of a four match ban as a result of his red card in the 1-1 draw with Wexford Youths a couple of weeks ago.
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TEAM NEWS
Suspended: Tommy Bonner, Keith Cowan.
Doubtful: Sean McCarron.
Injured: Kevin McHugh (hamstring).
Form Guide (last six league games)
Finn Harps: W-W-D-L-D-L (8 pts)
Waterford United: D-D-L-D-D-W (7 pts)
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Last six away games v Waterford United
25-Mar-11 Waterford United 1-0 Finn Harps (First Division)
09-Sep-11 Waterford United 0-0 Finn Harps (First Division)
31-Mar-12 Waterford United 0-2 Finn Harps (First Division)
27-Jul-12 Waterford United 1-1 Finn Harps (First Division)
08-Mar-13 Waterford United 1-1 Finn Harps (First Division)
28-Jun-13 Waterford United 3-0 Finn Harps (First Division)
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Finn Harps Goalscorers 2014
Pat McCann – 3
Ruairi Keating – 3 (1 in League Cup)
Keith Cowan – 1
James Doherty – 1
Michael Funston – 1
Paul McVeigh – 1
Carel Tiofack – 1
Sean McCarron – 1 (in League Cup)
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Finn Harps Results 2014 (Finn Harps scorers in brackets)
19-Apr-2014 – Lg – Longford Town 1-0 Finn Harps
11-Apr-2014 – Lg – Finn Harps 1-1 Wexford Youths (Keating)
04-Apr-2014 – Lg – Shelbourne 2-0 Finn Harps
29-Mar-2014 – Lg – Finn Harps 1-1 Galway FC (McVeigh)
21-Mar-2014 – Lg – Finn Harps 5-0 Cobh Ramblers (Doherty, Tiofack, McCann 2, Keating)
16-Mar-2014 – Lg – Shamrock Rovers B 0-3 Finn Harps (Cowan, Funston, McCann)
10-Mar-2014 – LC – Finn Harps 3-2 Cockhill Celtic (McCarron, O’Donnell o.g., Keating)
07-Mar-2014 – Lg – Finn Harps 0-0 Waterford United
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