Ollie Horgan admits his side’s last half-hour performance on Monday night against the Mayo League was simply not good enough.
By Chris Cannon
But the Harps manager was more than happy with what was on show for the first hour and says that his side will have to bring more of the same to Cobh Ramblers on Saturday evening.
Harps enter the game on St Patrick’s Day sitting in seventh place after the home draw with Shelbourne but it is worth noting that they have only played one game so far this year.
Cobh on the other hand are third after securing a win and a draw on their outings to date. The long journey to Cork will tell a lot about this Harps side and is sure to be a difficult contest for the travelling team.
Harps haven’t lost to Cobh since 2014, winning all of the last four clashes between the teams. Ollie Horgan speaking after Monday night’s game admitted that all concentration and focus was immediately switch to this weekend’s game.
“I’m not going to dwell on it too much, and neither will the players. We were either excellent or terrible depending on what minute of the game you’re looking at.
Look we got through, albeit hanging on at the end. I thought we were very good for an hour, I thought we were very bad for the last half,” he said.
Away trips are never easy in any league but the distance between Donegal and Cork makes this even more difficult. But a win in a contest like this could pave the way for a solid season and show the players the level they’re at.
“Are we in the top half or bottom half of the first division, we don’t know,” Horgan admitted.
Harps aren’t far off a full bill of health for the contest but there will be a few doubts. “I still think that game tonight (against the Mayo League) might do us no harm in the long-run. Paddy McCourt will be a doubt, Eric Whelan will be out.”
Harps have been unbeaten so far this season in the two league and cup games they’ve played. To continue this run of form would please their manager massively.
“Cobh is always a hugely difficult place to go when we’re going well and they’re not going well. Now they’re going damn well. A result in Cobh will be a lot more important than the result tonight,” he said.
