UCD -v- Finn Harps
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League leaders UCD take on Finn Harps on Friday night at 7.45pm, looking to cement their place at the top of Division One. With both Shelbourne and Sporting Fingal hot on their heels, the Students know only a win will do, as the pressure mounts.
Meanwhile, Finn Harps will be looking for a better performance than their last game against Galway United, where they lost 3-0 at home in the FAI Ford Cup last week.
UCD’s Brian Shorthall will definitely miss Friday’s game against Finn Harps due to a foot injury. Midfielder Greg Bolger remains on the sidelines with a long term injury that he has suffered with repeatedly this season.
For Harps, Michael Funston serves an automatic one match suspension as a result of his red card against Galway United in the Cup last weekend. Goalkeeper Gavin Cullen, who has played the last two games, is unavailable as he is getting married.
However, Ciaran Gallagher will return between the posts. Conor Gethins remains a long term absentee with a dislocated shoulder while Ian Rossiter (ankle) is also likely to miss out.
The Students return to league action following their 3-1 victory over Arklow Town last week.
“The priority for us is the league. The cup is nice and we want to do well in that but the main focus is on the league,” said UCD manager Martin Russell.
Russell said he expected Finn Harps to provide a stiff test for the Students on Friday. “Finn Harps have picked up a bit in the league. They were beaten in the cup last week but there league form has been improving,” said the UCD manager.
“We haven had a couple of performances where we haven’t played well but we’d had a lot where we have played well. We are just going to have to try and put in one of those good performances against Finn Harps,” said Russell.
Finn Harps manager James Gallagher believes his team will use the defeat against Galway United last week as a learning curve.
“It’s always difficult in the Cup against a team from a Division above you and it’s even more difficult when you have to play most of the game with just ten men. We can have no complaints about the result though. We can use the Galway game as a learning curve. There’s no point in feeling sorry for yourself. Prior to that we had three decent results in the league.”
James Gallagher on Friday’s game against UCD: “This will be a tough game, our last before the two-week break kicks in. We have to be up and at it from the start, and in many ways this week’s game will be as difficult as last week’s. UCD are the form side in the First Division, but we mustn’t forget that we were a match for them the last time we met them and we unfortunate that night with a couple of decisions that didn’t go our way.”
Extratime.ie prediction: 2-0 home win. With the Students in good goal scoring form, they will have too much firepower for Finn Harps to deal with.
Meanwhile, Finn Harps will be looking for a better performance than their last game against Galway United, where they lost 3-0 at home in the FAI Ford Cup last week.
UCD’s Brian Shorthall will definitely miss Friday’s game against Finn Harps due to a foot injury. Midfielder Greg Bolger remains on the sidelines with a long term injury that he has suffered with repeatedly this season.
For Harps, Michael Funston serves an automatic one match suspension as a result of his red card against Galway United in the Cup last weekend. Goalkeeper Gavin Cullen, who has played the last two games, is unavailable as he is getting married.
However, Ciaran Gallagher will return between the posts. Conor Gethins remains a long term absentee with a dislocated shoulder while Ian Rossiter (ankle) is also likely to miss out.
The Students return to league action following their 3-1 victory over Arklow Town last week.
“The priority for us is the league. The cup is nice and we want to do well in that but the main focus is on the league,” said UCD manager Martin Russell.
Russell said he expected Finn Harps to provide a stiff test for the Students on Friday. “Finn Harps have picked up a bit in the league. They were beaten in the cup last week but there league form has been improving,” said the UCD manager.
“We haven had a couple of performances where we haven’t played well but we’d had a lot where we have played well. We are just going to have to try and put in one of those good performances against Finn Harps,” said Russell.
Finn Harps manager James Gallagher believes his team will use the defeat against Galway United last week as a learning curve.
“It’s always difficult in the Cup against a team from a Division above you and it’s even more difficult when you have to play most of the game with just ten men. We can have no complaints about the result though. We can use the Galway game as a learning curve. There’s no point in feeling sorry for yourself. Prior to that we had three decent results in the league.”
James Gallagher on Friday’s game against UCD: “This will be a tough game, our last before the two-week break kicks in. We have to be up and at it from the start, and in many ways this week’s game will be as difficult as last week’s. UCD are the form side in the First Division, but we mustn’t forget that we were a match for them the last time we met them and we unfortunate that night with a couple of decisions that didn’t go our way.”
Extratime.ie prediction: 2-0 home win. With the Students in good goal scoring form, they will have too much firepower for Finn Harps to deal with.
