Finn Harps stretched their unbeaten run to five games after a tense draw at home to UCD but missed the opportunity to briefly sit at top of the First Division.
Finn Harps…1 UCD…1
Tony McNamee scored his third of the campaign in the first-half and Harps took that lead into the interval.
By Stuart Connolly with pics by Joe Boland
But Ciaran Behan popped up with an equaliser and his fifth this season with a quarter of an hour to go.
Prior to that sending off, Michael McCullagh was given his marching orders for a late tackle on Rainey.
Harps now face three consecutive away games with Treaty United the next home fixture on the 3rd of May.
For Finn Harps’ third game in a week – this one switched to a 5pm kick due to an issue with the floodlights – Darren Murphy modified his team with three new faces on the back of successive wins over Treaty United and Bray Wanderers.
Conor Walsh, a Republic of Ireland U19 International who is on loan from Sligo Rovers, made his first start of the campaign and Shane McMonagle was also in from the beginning.
Stephen Doherty was the third change but his appearance was unfortunately short lived due to an injury and Ryan Rainey, who Doherty had initially taken the place of, was brought on after quarter of an hour.
Prior to that substitution, it was the man in form who found the net for the third time in as many games to give Harps an early lead.
Patrick Ferry was halted on the edge of the area by Harry Curtis and Tony McNamee stepped up and curled his free kick into the top corner of Kian Moore’s goal.
The Harps faithful were in full voice after McNamee’s great strike and chants of “We are top of the league” quickly followed with Harps able to leapfrog Cork City, even if only temporarily.
Ciaran Behan attempted to replicate that feat with 25 minutes gone but his effort fizzed narrowly wide of Walsh’s goal.
Shortly after, Success Edogun was presented with an opportunity to double the lead but this shot flashed wide of the intended target.
UCD were sat in third place as they arrived in Ballybofey and behind at the break, William O’Connor, a Buncrana Native who spent a few years in the Harps Coaching ranks, made a triple substitution in an attempt to cut the gap between the two teams.
Edogun, who has three league goals this season, went close to making it four a few minutes into the second-half with a goal bound strike that was deflected just wide.
With just over an hour gone, UCD were reduced to ten men. Michael McCullagh went in late on Rainey close to the halfway line and it sparked a reaction from a host of players on both sides. McCullagh was shown a straight red by Oliver Moran, who also had a chat with his assistant in order to issue a booking or two to players involved in the melee that followed the challenge.
That sending off didn’t seem to be a disadvantage for UCD in the immediate aftermath as Ciaran Behan bagged his fifth of the season to draw UCD level with 73 minutes gone. Colin Bolton broke free down the right side and his low ball across goal was an easy finish for Behan inside the six yard box.
Harps almost restored their lead in the minutes that followed on two separate occasions, both from McNamee.
Sean O’Donnell set him up nicely for the first effort but this shot was halted on the goalline. The next strike looked to be headed for the top left corner but floated into the fans behind the Town End goal.
In the last stages of the match, Harps were denied a dramatic winner. Conor Tourish let fly from the edge of the area and Moore pulled off a superb one-handed save to direct it over the bar.
Finn Harps: Conor Walsh; Jamie Watson, Conor Tourish, Noe Baba, Matthew Makinson; Stephen Doherty(Ryan Rainey 16), Shane McMonagle(Chris Lotefa 85), David Cawley, Tony McNamee, Patrick Ferry(Sean O’Donnell 68); Success Edogun.
UCD: Kian Moore; Alex Dunne(Donal Higgins ht), Harry Curtis, Harvey O’Brien(Niall Holohan ht), Luke O’Regan(Daniel Norris 80); Sean Brennan, Adam Wells, Jake Doyle(Colin Bolton 62), Michael McCullagh; Michael Raggett(Danu Kinsella Bishop ht), Ciaran Behan.
Referee: Oliver Moran
