Match: Finn Harps v Cork City
Competition: SSE Airtricity League, Premier Division
Venue: Finn Park
Date / Time: Monday 19 th September 2016 / Kick-off 8.00pm
Harps players are up for Cork City battle
Finn Harps face a huge task in getting anything from this Monday night’s rescheduled League of Ireland Premier Division game against title contenders Cork City in Ballybofey (kick-off 8.00. Ollie Horgan has had the unenviable task of trying to lift the morale of his squad after the frustrating loss to Longford Town on Friday night.
The quick turnaround between the two matches will further test the part-time players both physically and mentally. But Harps remain four points ahead of Wexford Youths, which is still an advantage with eight league fixtures remaining. “We are going out to get a result tomorrow night at Finn Park. It’s going to be very difficult against Cork but our players are up for the battle” Horgan said.
In team news the manager has injury concerns over central midfielders Barry Molloy and Gareth Harkin. Molloy was an unused sub on Friday night while Harkin picked up a knock during the Longford game. Damian McNulty remains out as he continues his rehab from a knee ligament problem. “We have a number of players with niggles and knocks from the game on Friday night. Of them Barry Molloy and Gareth Harkin are the most serious worries in terms of being fit for tomorrow night.”
The Harps manager acknowledges that getting a result against Cork even at Finn Park is going to be a tall order. “Cork are flying at the moment and John Caufield has done a great job down there. They are scoring goals and at the same time they are conceding very little.” Despite the defeat Horgan was heartened by the performance of the team on Friday night.
“Everyone of them put in a big shift and we deserved at least a draw. We created enough chances but again we just couldn’t score. The lads are up for the fight and are determined to try and end the poor run that we are on. They have been totally committed all season. We had them in yesterday and this morning we were in the Aura training” Horgan said.
The home fixture against Cork is taking place after previously being postponed twice. The first call-off on the 22 nd of July was due to the European commitments of John Caufield’s team. The game was re-fixed for the 6 th of September at Finn Park but was put back again as Cork had two players involved with the Republic of Ireland U-21 squad.
On Friday night the Leesiders kept up their bid for the Premier title with a 3-0 victory over Shamrock Rovers at Turners Cross. Sean Maguire’s early goal gave the hosts the perfect start with Greg Bolger and Gary Buckley finding the late on to make sure of the three points. Cork are currently second in the Premier Division table eight points behind leaders with a game in hand.
Team News
Suspended: None
Doubtful: Gareth Harkin, Barry Molloy
Injured: Damian McNulty
Gareth Harkin
Record against Cork City (All Competitions)
Monday’s game will be the 56 th meeting of the two clubs, and the 29 th to be played at Finn Park.
Total Games: 55 (28 at Finn Park)
Harps Wins: 4 (3 at Finn Park)
Cork Wins: 22 (8 at Finn Park)
Draws: 9 (6 at Finn Park)
Harps Goals: 22 (15 at Finn Park)
Cork Goals: 56 (19 at Finn Park)
Last 10 games against Cork City
18-Apr- 08 Cork City 3-0 Finn Harps (Premier Division)
11-Jul- 08 Finn Harps 0-1 Cork City (Premier Division)
10-Oct- 08 Cork City 1-1 Finn Harps (Premier Division)
30-Apr- 10 Finn Harps 0-0 Cork City (First Division)
23-Jul- 10 Cork City 2-1 Finn Harps (First Division)
15-Oct- 10 Finn Harps 1-0 Cork City (First Division)
15-Apr- 11 Cork City 5-0 Finn Harps (First Division)
02-Jul- 11 Finn Harps 0-2 Cork City (First Division)
30-Sep- 11 Cork City 5-2 Finn Harps (First Division)
22-Apr- 16 Cork City 3-1 Finn Harps (Premier Division
Our last meeting with Cork City
22 nd April 2016. Turners Cross. League of Ireland Premier Division.
CORK CITY 3 Gearóid Morrissey 1, Sean Maguire 7, Karl Sheppard 76
FINN HARPS 1 Ryan Curran 83
Cork City: Mark McNulty; John Dunleavy, Alan Bennett, Kenny Browne, Kevin O’Connor; Steven Beattie (Danny Morrissey 77), Gearóid Morrissey, Greg Bolger, Garry Buckley, Stephen Dooley (Karl Sheppard 57); Sean Maguire (Mark O’Sullivan 77).
Finn Harps: Richard Brush (Ciaran Gallagher 61); Ethan Boyle, Damien McNulty, Packie Mailey, Ciaran Coll; Ryan Curran, Raymond Foy (Tony McNamee 10), Gareth Harkin, Sean Houston, Adam Hanlon (Liam Flatley 25); Dave Scully.
Finn Harps Goalscorers 2016
Ryan Curran – 6
David Scully – 3
Sean Houston – 3
Kevin McHugh – 1
Damien McNulty – 1
Tony McNamee – 1
Josh Mailey – 1
Ethan Boyle – 1 (in League Cup)
Finn Harps Results 2016
Fri 04-Mar Finn Harps 2-1 Derry City
Fri 11-Mar Dundalk 3–0 Finn Harps
Mon 14-Mar Finn Harps 0-1 Shamrock Rovers
Sat 19-Mar Sligo Rovers 1-1 Finn Harps
Tue 22-Mar Finn Harps 1-0 Cockhill Celtic (League Cup)
Sat 26-Mar Finn Harps 1-0 Longford Town
Fri 08-Apr Galway United 1-0 Finn Harps
Mon 11-Apr Finn Harps 1-2 St. Patrick’s Athletic
Fri 15-Apr Finn Harps 1-0 Bray Wanderers
Mon 18-Apr Galway United 0-0 Finn Harps (League Cup) – Galway won 4-2 on pens.
Fri 22-Apr Cork City 3-1 Finn Harps
Fri 29-Apr Wexford Youths 1-1 Finn Harps
Fri 06-May Finn Harps 0-0 Bohemians
Tue 10-May Derry City 2–2 Finn Harps
Fri 13-May Finn Harps 0-7 Dundalk
Tue 20-May St. Patrick’s Athletic 4-0 Finn Harps
Sat 21 May Finn Harps 0-1 Crumlin United (FAI Cup)
Sun 29-May Shamrock Rovers 1-1 Finn Harps
Fri 3-Jun Finn Harps 3-0 Sligo Rovers
Sat 25-Jun Longford Town 0-2 Finn Harps
Fri 08-Jul Finn Harps 1-0 Galway United
Sat 16-Jul Bray Wanderers 1-0 Finn Harps
Fri 29-Jul Finn Harps 0-1 Wexford Youths
Fri 05-Aug Bohemians 2-0 Finn Harps
Fri 12-Aug Finn Harps 0-5 Derry City
Fri 26-Aug Finn Harps 0-2 Shamrock Rovers
Mon 12-Sep Dundalk 2-0 Finn Harps
Fri 16-Sep Finn Harps 0-1 Longford Town
Finn Harps Remaining Fixtures 2016
Mon 19-Sep Cork City (h)
Fri 23-Sep St. Patrick’s Athletic (h)
Sat 01-Oct Galway United (a)
Mon 03-Oct Sligo Rovers (a)
Fri 07-Oct Bray Wanderers (h)
Fri 14-Oct Cork City (a)
Fri 21-Oct Wexford Youths (a)
Fri 28-Oct Bohemians (h)
