Ten-man Finn Harps share the spoils with Athlone Town

TEN-MAN Finn Harps had to be content with a point against Athlone Town in a struggle at Finn Park tonight.

Finn Harps 0-0 Athlone Town

Josh Mailey was given a straight red card on 32 minutes by referee John McLaughlin for a robust challenge on visiting left-back Derek Doyle, who required treatment afterwards.

The incident occurred right in front of substitutes’ benches and the fourth official, Shane O’Brien. When the dusk settled, Mailey trundled off towards the dressing-room. With numerical parity before the dismissal, there was little between the sides.

Main photo caption: Damien McNulty in the thick of the action for Finn Harps against Athlone Town in the SSE Airtricity League First Division clash of the sides at Finn Park tonight. Photo: Gary Foy

Both teams had their chances to win it late on, in a contest where the first goal was always going to be massive. Nathan Boyle’s shot on 74 minutes trickled towards goal and rebounded to safety off the base of the post.

Then, three minutes later, Ciaran Gallagher in the Harps goal made a great one-on-one save from Sam O’Connor, who was set free by Robbie Gaul. Gallagher did very well to stay on his feet as long as possible and in doing so made himself as big as possible.

Beforehand, Matthew Crossan had curled a 25th minute free-kick inches outside of the Athlone post and Wilfried Tagbo had created a chance for himself when he shifted the ball to his left in a crowded penalty. Paddy Dunican, though, got two firm hands behind the shot as he tipped it over.

Athlone had inflicted Harps’ first defeat of the campaign in June at Lisseywollen in June and were narrowly defeated on their last visit to the Twin Towns in April, with both preceding fixtures ending 1-0. Alan Mathews’ team were comfortable in possession and came narrowly close to opening the scoring at the end of the first half.

Right after Mailey’s sending off,  O’Connor rolled the ball sideways to Philip Gorman, who opened his body as he curled his shot. Gallagher was rooted to the spot and as those at the Town End drew their breath, were relieved to see the ball fly just wide.

Then,  Gaul trundled a shot that went right across the box but again wide of the post. For Harps, who had reverted to a 4-4-1 formation with the industrious Nathan Boyle up top on his own, it was a matter of getting to the break level. There was an appeal when Raymond Foy went down in a chase for the ball with Aidan Collins.

Nathan Boyle of Finn Harps put in a diligent shift against Athlone Town in the SSE Airtricity League First Division fixture at Finn Park tonight. Photo: Gary Foy 

Ollie Horgan’s side had gone down to a single goal defeat five nights’ beforehand against UCD at the Belfield bowl with Robbie Benson scoring the only goal of the game.

Three minutes into the second half, when Dunican got a fist on a Tony McNamee corner, Athlone broke with real purpose and Daniel Molloy – a late call-up for Conor Dunne before kick-off – set Thomas Mulroney away on the inside right channel.

The well-groomed Keith Cowan, who had just returned to the Harps first-team having got married in Italy, made a telling block. O’Connor and Gaul had half-chances, as did Kevin McHugh when he came from the bench just after the hour.

In stoppage time, Gareth Harkin saw a free-kick deflected wide and the resultant corner, the last play of the match, was cleared. No goals but plenty to talk about.

Finn Harps: Ciaran Gallagher; Damien McNulty, Keith Cowan, Matthew Crossan; Josh Mailey, Gareth Harkin (Michael Funston 63), Raymond Foy, Tony McNamee, Ciaran Coll; Wilfried Tagbo (Kevin McHugh 63), Nathan Boyle (Kieran McDaid 89).

Athlone Town: Paddy Dunican; Aiden Friel, Aidan Collins, Stephen Dunne, Derek Doyle; Thomas Mulroney, Sam O’Connor, Robbie Gaul, Daniel Molloy; Philip Gorman.

Referee: John McLaughlin.