Finn Harps succumbed to a late spot kick as their poor run of form continued, with three consecutive home defeats.
Finn Harps 1 – 2 UCD
By Stuart Connolly at Finn Park with pics by Joe Boland
Adam McDaid scored his first goal for the club just seconds after coming off the bench, and that goal cancelled out a late first half free kick from Ciaran Behan.
With just seconds left on the clock, Michael Raggett fired home from 12 yards, as Harps’ gap to the playoffs increased to seven points.
After their stalemate in Longford last Saturday, Kevin McHugh implemented two changes to the line-up as Max Hutchison and Michael Place returned to the side.
Both taking up a spot in the defence, the duo and their teammates at the back had a quiet start to proceedings as Oisin Cooney’s only call to action was to tip a looping ball over the bar.
Harps had the better of the play, but it was a somewhat frustrating first half for the hosts, especially in the final third.
Gavin Hodgins was the first to test Dara Kavanagh with a shot from the edge of the box, while many of the set-pieces launched into the area didn’t have the desired effect.
Harps had their best opportunities prior to the half hour as Gradi Lomboto stole the ball off the backtracking Adam Wells, but his low shot was smothered by Kavanagh.
Lomboto set up the next attempt, and this one fell at the feet of Hodgins, with his goalbound strike blocked by Luke O’Regan.
As the interval approached, UCD were awarded a free kick after Aaron McLaughlin brought down Seán Brennan outside the box. Ciaran Behan took responsibility, and his left-footed deadball shot went over the wall and into the back of the net.
The Students thought they’d doubled their advantage on the cusp of the halftime as Cathal McCarthy found the back of the net, but the offside flag cut the celebrations short.
Both sides started the second half with a shot inside ten minutes as Hodgins put one just wide, while Joel Bradley-Walsh was in place to thwart Jake Doyle at the other end.
With a little under 20 minutes to go, Harps thought they had their leveller. McAteer floated the ball into the box, and Bradley-Walsh challenged Kavanagh for it, with Gavin Gilmore alert to prod home, but with the netminder laid flat on the turf, a foul was given.
Further chances at each end had the shot-stoppers coming out on top as Patrick Ferry was denied one minute, while Doyle couldn’t convert the next.
Kavanagh’s best save came with just shy of ten minutes left. After a set-piece had only been half cleared, the ball was set up nicely for Bradley-Walsh, and his rocket towards the top corner was well watched and punched away.
With not long left on the stopwatch, Harps found their equaliser. Bradley-Walsh floated the ball into the area and fresh off the bench, Adam McDaid bundled it over the line with his first touch.
Harps almost turned zero points into three in a matter of moments, but a low strike from Patrick Ferry fizzed just wide of the target.
With a matter of seconds, that one point was cruelly snatched away.
Adam Brennan was brought down just inside the area, and a penalty was the verdict. Michael Raggett stepped up and got the better of Cooney in the Harps goal to take the three points back to the UCD Bowl.
Finn Harps: Oisin Cooney; Michael Place, Max Hutchison, Joel Bradley-Walsh Joel Thompson(Adam McDaid 87); Josh Cullen(Shaunie Bradley 80), Tony McNamee, Gavin McAteer(Kevin Jordan 90), Gavin Hodgins, Aaron McLaughlin(Patrick Ferry 61); Gradi Lomboto(Gavin Gilmore 61).
UCD: Dara Kavanagh; Adam Wells, Cathal McCarthy, Luke O’Regan(Odhran McLaughlin 61), Brian McManus; Ronan Finn, Michael McCullagh(Adam Verdon 51), Ciaran Behan, Sam Norval(Adam Brennan 81), Seán Brennan(Carl Lennox 90+5); Jake Doyle(Michael Raggett 81).
Referee: Alan Patchell
