Bart Wesolowski’s early goal saw Cockhill capitalise on Leterkenny Rovers’ slip-up as the champions joined the Cathedral Town men at the top of the USL.
Cockhill Celtic 1 Finn Harps Reserves 0
Cockhill started this game at a high tempo and took the lead on three minutes.
Brendan McLaughlin made ground down the left and his pullback was clinically dispatched at the near post by Bart Wesolowski.
Cockhill were rampant early on and had further opportunities to double their lead. On six minutes, pressure on the Harps back line resulted in Wesolowski gaining possession. He released Mark Moran who blazed wide.
On 13 minutes, it was Wesolowski himself who should have added a second, heading a McLaughlin free kick wide.
Harps weathered this early storm and came into the match creating half chances of their own.
Finn Harps Reserves
Corey McBride had a free kick deflected wide on 21 minutes before they spurned the chance of the half on 26 minutes.
Lee McLaughlin’s advanced from right back. His cross evaded everyone but found the onrushing Jamie Browne whose header found the side netting.
The remainder of the half was a scrappy affair punctuated by stoppages and free kicks.
Cockhill started the second half in a similar fashion to the first but didn’t get the goal this time. They had a great chance on 49 minutes when Marty Doherty broke through midfield but took an extra touch and the chance was gone.
Harps were dangerous from set pieces and should have equalised on the hour when a Stephen Doherty free kick from the left looked like finding Gabriel Aduaka.
He seemed to take his eye off the ball and missed the header, in the process causing the inrushing Keelin McGill to miss the ball.
The second half was very stop-start with a number of injuries and substitutions. The brightest piece of attacking play came when Wesolowski found Moran with a great touch. Moran advanced through midfield, dummied a defender but blazed wide from a great position.
Cockhill Celtic: Lee McCarron; Conor McNamee, Oisin McColgan, Jason Breslin, Lee McColgan; Marty Doherty, James Bradley, Gerard McLaughlin, Mark Moran; Bart Wesolowski, Brendan McLaughlin.
Finn Harps Reserves: Joe Boyle, Lee McLaughlin, Pat Loughrey, Keelin McGill, Keenan Diver, Corey McBride, Stephen Doherty, Gabriel Aduaka, Ronan Gallagher, Jamie Broene, Jack Doherty.
