Success Edogun ended his recent goal drought on Friday evening to make it back-to-back home wins for Finn Harps.
Finn Harps…3 Longford Town…2
By Stuart Connolly at Finn Park with pics by Joe Boland
Darren Murphy’s side squandered a two goal lead in the first-half against basement side Longford Town and Edogun popped up towards the final stages for his fourth goal this season.
Max Johnston netted his first while Tony McNamee put away his fifth as Harps raced into an early lead.
Jordan Adeyemo reduced the deficit from the spot and Dean O’Shea levelled things as the first-half ended all square.
Consecutive home wins for the first time this season had lifted Harps back up to fourth in table with 24 points on the board.
After four defeats in the last five outings, Darren Murphy implemented four changes to the lineup with the players to drop out taking up a spot on the bench. Tim-Oliver Heimer, David Cawley and Ryan Rainey were brought back into the side. Success Edogun was also in from the start and he contributed to the perfect script for Harps.
Tony McNamee celebrates his goal.
His ball in from the right was precise and it allowed Max Johnston to head home his first goal for the club with a tiny bit of help from the crossbar.
From a first to a fifth, the perfect start got even better as Tony McNamee found the net in style with just over ten minutes on the referee’s stopwatch.
He cushioned a clearance on his chest roughly 25 yards out and on the half-volley, his effort rifled in the corner beyond the outstretched gloves of Jack Brady.
Prior to that strike, Longford Town, who picked up their first win on Monday evening against Kerry FC, almost found a leveller but a shot from Francis Campbell flashed across the face of goal.
That script began to hit a couple of twists though around halfway through the first-half as Harps’ lead was halved, then taken away after half an hour.
With twenty minutes gone, Ross Fay was bundled over in the area by Jamie Watson and Jordan Adeyemo calmly slotted home from the spot for his third of the campaign.
Ten minutes later, Conor Crowley swung in a free kick from the right side and Dean O’Shea was able to prod home from close range despite the efforts of Tim-Oliver Heimer.
Harps almost restored their two goal advantage prior to that second goal as Johnston had an effort deflected wide.
Another opportunity fell Harps’ way in the aftermath of Longford’s second as Edogun headed over the bar from a corner.
With an unchanged starting lineup from their outing on Monday evening, Wayne Groves, who is the Interim Head Coach after Stephen Henderson was relieved of his duties in Mid-April, made the first move in the second-half. Bastien Hery, who made over 20 appearances for Harps in 2022, almost helped put Longford Town in front at the Town End. His pass was controlled by Adeyemo but Johnston had tracked back and made a crucial block to deny the striker his second of the afternoon.
Harps’ main threat up top in the second-half was Edogun, who was on the hunt to end his goal drought, which now stood at 12 games. One strike stung the palms of Brady while another goal bound shot was blocked by Kyle O’Connor.
With less than five minutes to go, Finn Harps’ script was back on track and it finished perfectly for Edogun.
Sean O’Donnell broke free down the right side and played a low ball across the box with Edogun able to slot it into the far corner for his fourth of the season.
The former Treaty United player was substituted not long after and Conor Tourish stepped onto the pitch for the first time since the trip to Cobh Ramblers in mid-April.
Max Hutchison celebrates the opener for Harps.
Finn Harps: Tim-Oliver Heimer; Jamie Watson, Matthew Makinson, Noe Baba, Luke O’Brien; David Cawley, Tony McNamee, Ryan Rainey, Patrick Ferry(Sean O’Donnell 70); Success Edogun(Conor Tourish 87), Max Johnston.
Longford Town: Jack Brady; Shane Elworthy, Kyle O’Connor, Viktor Serdeniuk, Dean O’Shea; Ross Fay, Conor Crowley, Luke Wade Slater, Mohammed Boudiaf(Bastien Hery 67); Francis Campbell, Jordan Adeyemo.
Referee: Alan Patchell
