FINN HARPS MIGHT have extended their advantage over Longford Town, the Premier Division’s bottom side, out to 12 points last night, but manager Ollie Horgan insists that his team remain locked in a relegation dogfight.
Goals by Josh Mailey and Tony McNamee gave Harps a 2-0 win over limp Longford at the City Calling Stadium, meaning they have 12 points to spare on the Midlanders and hold an 11-point lead on play-off spot occupiers Bray Wanderers.
It was Harps’ first away win of the season, but Horgan certainly wasn’t getting ahead of himself.
“Yeah, but how many points do you need to survive?” wondered the Harps manager.
[adrotate group=”43″]“I don’t know. We’re a long way off the accumulation of points to survive. We’re only halfway through. Limerick were dead and buried at this stage last year, but came back and nearly stayed up.
“I still think we’re going to be in a relegation battle. We will have to play better than we did tonight.
“Certainly delighted with the win. We haven’t won here in years. Longford are a very difficult team to beat, home or away. We didn’t score down here in the First Division. We’re delighted to get the win, but we move on fairly quickly.”
[adrotate group=”50″]If Horgan was adept at masking his delight, the Galway native was quick to point out that his team could have fallen behind before Mailey, on the occasion of his first start of the season, superbly put them in front.
Horgan said: “We were lucky to go in one-nil up. The goal was against he run of the play.
“They had most of the possession and had a couple of half chances themselves. In the second half I thought that we shaded it, until we scored the second goal. We were poor in the last 15 minutes.
[adrotate group=”38″]“We made a lot of wrong decisions and nearly paid the price.
“The goals came at a good time, especially the first one. The first goal was crucial, as it was against Sligo. Had they got it, it could have been a different story.”
McNamee and Sean Houston both had chances for Harps to double the lead before, on 74 minutes, McNamee curled past Paul Skinner for his and Harps’ second.
Horgan said: “We would have taken a draw coming down here, but we’ll take the win. We had a few hairy moments that we got away with. We have to improve to stay in the Division.”
The transfer window opens next week, but Horgan indicated that changes to his roster look unlikely at this stage.
[adrotate group=”37″]He said: “The group that was there tonight and the three we have out injured will be the group that will see out the second half of the season, please God.”
Listen to the full interview below …
https://soundcloud.com/donegalsporthub-club-notes/ollie-horgan-after-finn-harps-win-over-longford-town
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