MONDAY NIGHT’S 1-0 loss to Cork City in Ballybofey saw Finn Harps create two new, unwanted records.
The defeat to John Caulfield’s Rebels was Harps’ eighth straight League defeat and also the eighth game in a row in which Ollie Horgan’s team hasn’t managed a goal.
While the signs were much more positive on Monday night – it was only through a disputed Sean Maguire penalty that the Donegal side went down – defeat meant that history was made.
Harps haven’t won a game in well over two months now. You have to go back to the 1-0 win over Galway United on July 8 for the last success and Sean Houston’s goal in the 69th minute that night is the last time a Harps player found the net.
In competitive minutes, Harps now haven’t scored in 741 minutes of competitive League action.
[adrotate group=”76″]Here’s how the current sequence compares:
2016: Eight games without a goal and eight straight defeats
AFTER Sean Houston’s 69th minute winner against Galway United at Finn Park, Harps looked home and hosed in the battle to avoid relegation. However, defeats by Bray Wanders (1-0), Wexford Youths (1-0), Bohemians (2-0), Derry City (5-0), Shamrock Rovers (2-0), Dundalk (2-0), Longford Town (1-0) and Cork City (1-0) saw Harps concede 15 and score none in their next eight games, all of which ended in defeat. The goalless run stands at 741 minutes, or 762 if you take into account the 21 minutes played in an abandoned fixture against Sligo Rovers.
2011: 14 games, 11 without a goal, one win and three managers
FOR all the talk of Harps’ recent poor run of form, it is only five years ago since the club went through this ignominious spell in the First Division. Harps failed to score in 11 out of 14 games after a 2-2 draw with Monaghan in mid-March until a 1-0 win over Waterford in June. That spell included five games in a row without a goal and they lost seven League games in a row at one stage.
James Gallagher was in charge for losses against Cork City (5-0), Athlone Town (1-0) and Longford Town (2-1); Kevin McHugh had temporary charge for a 1-0 loss at Shelbourne; Felix Healy returned, but lost against Wexford Youths (1-0), Mervue United (2-1) and Limerick (1-0).
[adrotate group=”50″]2008: Seven games without a goal and seven straight defeats
AFTER winning promotion in 2007 via the play-offs and wins over Dundalk and Waterford United, Harps decided to go full-time for the 2008 season and their return to the top flight. Harps were relegated again after a disappointing campaign. During that season, after Sean Williams netted in a 1-0 win over UCD, Harps lost seven in a row. League defeats to Bohemians (3-0), Bray (1-0), St Patrick’s Athletic (3-0), Cork City (3-0), Sligo Rovers (1-0) and Drogheda United (1-0) were followed by a 3-0 League Cup loss at Derry City. The slide was halted with a 2-2 draw against Galway United and Conor Gethins’ goal was Harps’ first in 727 minutes.
1982: Seven straight defeats – actually, make that eight
THE ONLY time before now that Harps lost eight games in a row spanned between two seasons. Eunan Blake’s Harps lost the last seven League games in the 1981/82 season – falling to Sligo Rovers (2-1), Shamrock Rovers (2-0), Home Farm (3-2), Athlone Town (2-0), Shamrock Rovers (3-1), Home Farm (4-1) and Athlone Town (4-2). Blake was sacked before that defeat to Athlone and things were at a low ebb with Harps confirming large debts at the end of the season. In the opening game of the 1982/83 season, Harps – back under Patsy McGowan’s watch – lost 4-1 to Sligo Rovers in the League Cup for what was now an eighth straight defeat.
[adrotate group=”38″]1992: Five defeats in a row and five games without a goal
THIS sequence began with a 1-0 loss to Fanad United of the Ulster Senior League in a League Cup game. They also lost 4-0 to Derry in the League Cup before going down 1-0 to Longford, 3-0 against Galway and 3-0 against Monaghan in the First Division.
2005: Five games without a win or a goal
HARPS endured a tough campaign after winning promotion in a First Division-winning campaign under Felix Healy in 2004. At one point, they were five games without either a win or a goal. Three games in a row, against St Patrick’s Athletic, Derry City and Bohemians, ended in 2-0 defeats, before they drew 0-0 with Longford and then lost 3-0 to Shelbourne.
[adrotate group=”37″]2014: Four defeats in a row and four games without a goal
IN OLLIE Horgan’s first season, Harps lost League games against Longford Town (1-0), Waterford United (2-0) and Shamrock Rovers B (1-0) as well as falling to defeat by Galway United in the EA Sports Cup.
2006 Four games without a win or a goal
AT the end of the 2006 season, which coincided with Anthony Gorman’s last few games in charge of Harps, they lost three in a row to Cobh Ramblers (3-0), Shamrock Rovers (1-0) and Dundalk (1-0) after being held to a scoreless draw by Limerick FC.
2010: Four games without a win or a goal
HARPS were by now accepting themselves as being a First Division side that could be competitive without being challengers. Here, they drew 0-0 with Athlone and Cork and lost 2-0 to Waterford in the League, with the sequence also including a 2-0 loss to Derry City in the League Cup.
[adrotate group=”46″]1995: Four games without a win or a goal
IT is perhaps unfair to include this one as it includes the two legs of the play-off against Athlone Town, both of which finished in 0-0 draws. Harps lost the subsequent penalty shoot-out at St Mel’s Park. In their final two League games, Harps lost 1-0 to UCD and drew 0-0 against Limerick.
Tags: