Sean Houston has been in Ollie Horgan-managed teams more than most of his Finn Harps team-mates.
Houston played for Horgan as a youngster at Fanad United and at St Eunan’s College before they linked up again at the start of the 2016 season at Finn Harps.
Gareth Harkin is another who has similar experience and both are aware of Horgan’s feats of escapology.
With just four games to go, Harps are in real danger of relegation.
A recent home defeat by Sligo Rovers has the fingers closing around them but there are only five points between Harps, in 11th and Limerick, in seventh.
“We’re in with a good shout at least,” Houston reasons.
“I’d like to be just out of the relegation zone at this stage. Where Galway are at right now would have suited better, but there’s definitely plenty to play for still. We’ll need to pull off a couple of big results to stay up. There are no such thing as easy games in this League and every team is probably thinking the same.
“We’re in trouble, but we know that. We’ll need everyone to give 100 per cent and maybe add a bit more onto that.”
Dundalk arrive in Ballybofey with an FAI Cup semi-final replay against Shamrock Rovers to come on Tuesday night, but Stephen Kenny’s team have been showing some scintillating form of late.
The task for Harps to curb a team of their riches and refinement is as tough as could be.
Houston says: “If Dundalk play to their potential, it will be really tough.
“No-one gives us a chance, but it’s a game of football. We can win it, if we play as well as we can and maybe Dundalk have an off-night.
“The supporters can give us a lift if they get behind us. They’ve been great at doing that so far this season. Hopefully we’ll get a big crowd behind us in the next few weeks.
“One of Ollie’s biggest traits has always been getting players to work hard and dig out results. I’ve seen Ollie do it at different teams and he’s a good man to be managing you in a period like this.”
Harps’ home form has not been what they might have hoped for this season and losses to Drogheda United, Galway United and Sligo Rovers – three of their drop zone rivals – have been damaging.
Indeed, they may yet prove to be fatal.
The paradox is that each of those defeats followed encouraging away wins over Derry City, Bray Wanderers and Limerick FC.
“We have played better away from home this season, no doubt,” observes Houston.
“I don’t know what the reasons for that are. There’s a bit of luck-of-the-draw about it, but maybe teams have taken us for granted when we’ve gone to them or they’ve given it a bit more when they come to Finn Park because they expect us to be making it tough for them up here.”
Houston, like most of the League of Ireland, was at a loss when it was announced this year that three teams would be relegated from the Premier Division and only one promoted from the First Division.
“They’re relegating a quarter of the teams,” he points out.
“It’s a tough time, but we need to just concentrate on ourselves over the next few weeks. Every team has a tough few fixtures between now and the end of the season.
“I don’t know why they’ve decided to relegate three teams but there’ll be good, full-time clubs relegated now. I don’t see how it will help the league and it’s a bit ruthless.
“People probably don’t look at us like that but, look, we train properly, we work hard and we have some good players here.”
The addition this year of Paddy McCourt has proved a super piece of work by Horgan.
The ‘Derry Pele’ scored one of the best goals Finn Park has ever seen in that 2-1 loss to Sligo and his pass for Houston’s goal against Bohemians at Finn Park was another highlight of the campaign.
Houston says: “Some of the stuff he does is just fantastic. He’s been great to play with. He just sees stuff no-one else sees. It’s almost as if he’s in a different game to the rest of us. He’s very intelligent, a brilliant player.”
In 2010, Houston moved to a Bray Wanderers team that had just survived the drop with a penalty shoot-out win in a play-off against Monaghan United the previous season.
Houston has also played for UCD and Derry City, though his time at Derry was blighted by injuries.
An early-evening game on a Saturday, the kick-off switched to accommodate the live TV coverage on RTÉ, feels perfect for Houston.
Harps don’t have the luxury, like many of the Premier Division teams, to offer full-time football to the squad and Houston is one of the Harps players with a regular ‘9 to 5’.
He says: “I definitely prefer the Saturday games. Full-time is a big advantage to a lot of teams. The big advantage is probably in terms of the organisation. They’re maybe slight fitter and slightly stronger. It makes a difference.
“We came off the back of a 1-0 home defeat to Shamrock Rovers and it was a game that there was nothing in, but the full-time outfits can grind out those results.
“We’ll need to do that now to give ourselves a chance.”
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