Paddy McCourt made his Finn Harps debut, but it was defeat for Ollie Horgan’s men as Sean Maguire gave Cork a barely-deserved win at a rain-sodden Finn Park.
Finn Harps 0 Cork City 1
McCourt was given a warm reception by the big Finn Park crowd when he replaced Sean Houston with 20 minutes to go – but Maguire’s goal late in the first half was the killer strike on the night.
Former Celtic winger McCourt was signed by Harps after training last week and played in a friendly against Cabinteely last Saturday.
Harps will have been happy with how the performed and defended until that moment, in the 45th minute when Maguire – Cork’s match-winner in the 2016 FAI Cup final win over Dundalk – got on the end of a Jimmy Keohane flick-on.
Maguire was the picture of cool in the driving rain as he finished from close range.
Cork were inches from a second in the early moments of the second half.
After Maguire got a flick onto a Steven Dooley corner Ryan Delaney’s effort rebounded off a post and Barry Molloy, just, managed to clear.
Caolan McAleer, one of four Harps debutants, forced a save from Cork stopper Mark McNulty as the hard-working Harps went in search of an equaliser.
Cork – skippered by Ballybofey man Johnny Dunleavy, named to play at Finn Park for the first time – were reduced to ten men in the 75th minute when Garry Buckley was given his second yellow card of the night.
That came just after Gallagher denied Conor McCormick with a fine save with McCormick’s follow-up flying dangerously across the gaping goal.
Harps manager Ollie Horgan gave four players their first Harps stars, with Killian Cantwell, McAleer, Danny Morrissey and Ciaran O’Connor all making their bows in the blue.
Buncrana native Jonny Bonner was also included having returned for another stint at Finn Park.
Bonner had Harps’ first shot of 2017, but curled an early free well over the Town End crossbar after O’Connor was fouled 30 yards from Mark McNulty’s goal.
In testing conditions and on an in-parts mushy surface, that was only given the go-ahead by Rob Rogers, the referee, at 4.45 this afternoon, coherence was hard to come by.
Former Derry winger Dooley had a pop in the seventh minute after a Greg Bolger free was only partially cleared, but his attempt was always rising.
Kevin O’Connor managed a shot on target just before the half-hour mark, but a low effort in the greasy conditions was held by Gallagher when it might well have caused some angst.
Maguire could have sealed it in added time, but hit the post and the subsequent clearance cannoned back off the Cork attacker only to hit the goal frame again.
Finn Harps: Ciaran Gallagher; Ethan Boyle, Damien McNulty, Killian Cantwell,; Caolan McAleer, Barry Molloy (Gareth Harkin 78), Jonny Bonner, Sean Houston (Paddy McCourt 70), Ciaran Coll; Danny Morrissey (Eddie Dsane 78), Ciaran O’Connor.
Cork City: Mark McNulty; Conor McCormack, Johnny Dunleavy, Ryan Delaney, Kevin O’Connor; Jimmy Keohane, Gearoid Morrissey, Greg Bolger (Karl Sheppard 70), Steven Dooley (Alan Bennett 90); Garry Buckley; Sean Maguire.
Referee: Rob Harvey (Dublin).
