Mixed thoughts for Ollie Horgan after Finn Harps draw in Wexford

THE FINN HARPS MANAGER, Ollie Horgan, wasn’t quite sure whether or not to be content with last night’s draw at Ferrycarrig Park.

In a battle of the Premier Division’s newly-promoted teams, Harps led through a 24^th minute penalty by Ryan Curran, but Andy Mulligan leveled it up six minutes into the second half.

It was, as Horgan observed, a ‘game of two halves’, something that has contributed to the mixed feelings in the mind of the Harps boss.

“At half-time, we were very much in control,” said Horgan, who watched from behind the wire last night as he served a one-game touchline suspension.

“By full-time, I was thinking that we had a chance to win it, but at the same time I think that it’s a game we’d have lost two years ago.

“We went for the game and we nearly lost it. It was end-to-end stuff. It was a great game after it went to one-all.

“The difference, I feel, in now and two years ago is that back then we’d have sat in and tried to be defensively strong.

“We deservedly were one up and could have been further ahead. We were very comfortable and Wexford didn’t have any chances, bar two corners. Then, at the start of the second half, they tore into us, Paul Murphy was creating havoc and they got an equaliser.

“Both of us could have won it. They hit the post, Packie Mailey cleared one off the line and I felt that we could have had a penalty. Michael Funston had a header that we all thought was in, but it just faded to the wrong side of the post.”

The draw keeps Harps five points ahead of Wexford, who are joint bottom with Longford Town, as the season reaches the conclusion of its first quarter next weekend.

Horgan said: “It’s a good point, but we mightn’t get a better chance of three away points: Danny Furlong wasn’t there, Aidan Keenan was injured and Shane Dunne was a sub.

“Would I have taken a draw beforehand? Yes. At half-time, would I have taken a draw? No. When they hit the post at one-all, would I have taken a draw? Of course.

“The last half-an-hour was very entertaining. Both sides went to win it.”

Harps have taken 11 points from their opening ten games in the top flight, but the congested nature of the lower half of the table means the margin for error is thin-to-non-existent.

“Will we go into our last 11 games with 22 points?” wondered Horgan. “That is probably the bare minimum that we’ll need to survive.”

Keith Cowan and Adam Hanlon played through the pain barrier for Horgan last night although Damien McNulty is reported to be struggling after enduring 90 minutes while carrying a leg injury.

Barry Molloy made his return last night as the Derry man came off the bench to play the last 35 minutes. The former Derry City captain hadn’t played since picking up a knee injury on the season’s opening night when Harps defeated Derry 2-1 at Finn Park.

Horgan said: “We need Barry Molloy to stay fit. We would have put him on earlier, but we don’t want to make him do too much. We want to manage him. We don’t know how big a loss he was because we never really had him, but we will need Barry Molloy with us to survive. It was good that he got half-an-hour under his belt.”

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