Jonny Bonner scored his first two Finn Harps goals on Monday night and his second was well worth the admission fee alone.
A first-half penalty in the EA Sports Cup tie against Cockhill Celtic was the Buncrana man’s first goal in Harps colours.
Playing for the 33rd time for Harps, Bonner – now in his second spell at Finn Park – pulled a goal right off the top shelf in the 76th minute.
Four minutes previously, Derek Doherty drew Cockhill level, but Bonner stepped up with a cracker; dipping a magnificent effort beyond Gavin Cullen, via the underside of the crossbar.
“It’s about time I got a goal for Harps,” Bonner said.
“It’s good to get the win as well. The second one got us away from them.
“Cockhill deserved the goal. They had us under a bit of pressure, but it was good to get a quick goal again.
“It was a decent strike. I haven’t had too many of them so I’ll take pleasure in that.
“We showed good determination to pull through in the end up. It was good to get the job done in 90 minutes because the pitch was getting heavy on the legs there.”
Bonner played in the top flight last season with Wexford Youths, with whom he won the First Division in 2015, but said: “Coming back and playing for Harps in the Premier Division was a big pull.”
Based in Carlow, where he is studying at Carlow IT, Bonner commutes for training once a week.
He said: “I’m enjoying it. The travel is a bit hectic, but I have only a couple of weeks left. That’ll take a bit of toll off, when I’ll be based at home again all the time.”
Bonner’s League of Ireland career began at Derry City, playing for the Candystripes in the A Championship.
Among his team-mates was Patrick McEleney, who has been one of the stars for Dundalk – Friday’s opponents for Harps in Ballybofey – so far this season.
Bonner said: “We all know what Paddy can do. I played with him when he was over-and-back to Sunderland. He’s a quality player, top class. He beat us with Dundalk last year, but hopefully we can get something out of this week’s game.”
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