League Report: Wexford 1 - 2 Finn Harps

Wexford’s first home game of the season ended agonisingly as David Cawley’s dramatic eighty-ninth minute winner completed Finn Harps’ comeback at Ferrycarrig Park to give them a 1-2 win on the road.

The hosts led at the break after a fairly dominant first half, Cian O’Malley’s close-range finish putting them in front. Introduced as half of a double change at the break, Patrick Ferry only took four minutes to draw Finn Harps level.

After a seesawing second half, Cawley pounced from six yards to meet a wicked Conor Tourish cross, sending the visitors into delirium as Harps registered an impressive third win from their first five league games.

The Warriors began the brighter of the two sides, despite away defender, Matty Makinson almost shovelling in a corner, former Harps captain, Ethan Boyle made a key block inside the box.  

Mikie Rowe then danced through Harps’ midfield and into the attacking half. Rowe’s resulting effort was only kept out the post.

In the fourteenth minute, Wexford’s attacks bore fruit. A cleverly worked corner routine saw Rowe tap the set piece short to Kian Corbally. He fizzed it across the six-yard box where the recalled, Cian O’Malley, an unused substitute last week, poached at the back post, prodding the ball past Harps goalkeeper, Tim Heimer from a couple of yards out.

Heimer leapt into action spectacularly to deny Corbally midway through the first half before Harps threatened themselves. Jamie Watson and captain, Tony McNamee neatly creating space for the latter to cross, right-back, Tourish heading wide on his first start of the season.

The lively Rowe sliced off-target from distance, having neatly cut in off the left wing, as Ferrycarrig Park applauded Wexford off, Harps struggling to bring key forward, Success Edogun, into the game.

Clearly dissatisfied, Harps manager, Darren Murphy made a double substitution over the interval, youngsters Max Hutchison and Ferry entering the fray in place of the quiet Stephen Doherty and Mark Mbuli.

That switch reaped immediate rewards as before the fiftieth minute, the visitors had equalised. Makinson advanced, finding Edogun in space. Dropping deep, the striker played a precise pass into Ferry’s darting run down the right-hand side of the penalty area. One-on-one with home netminder, Owen Mason, Ferry fired a composed, left-footed finish through Mason’s watery grasp, Harps back level.

Neither team fashioned a clearcut chance for a while afterwards, Wexford also opting to reshuffle their attack as Thomas Oluwa came on from the bench.

Amidst a tangle of legs, Cawley thought he’d been caught by Ben Lynch’s stray tackle but referee, Robert Dowling denied any penalty appeals from Harps. Ironically, in the next phase of play, the loanee Luke O’Brien then received the match’s first yellow card for hacking down Oluwa on the counter.

Murphy’s side, wearing their white away kit, started to edge the encounter, right-back, Conor Tourish’s overlapping runs becoming more frequent with Boyle’s defensive nous required to hack his deliveries away from danger.

Wexford winger, Mark Hanratty then applied the afterburners searing past Tourish, caught up-field, his teasing bullet of a left-footed cross nodded clear by an alert Noe Baba at the back.

Harps, however, put a late sting in the tail for Wexford’s home faithful, back at Ferrycarrig Park for the first time since last November.

It wasn’t to be a happy return as Makinson made inroads on the right wing, nudging the ball back to Tourish. As he had all night, the Donegal defender swung in a sizzling cross which Cawley used all his experience to get to, sweeping his strike past Mason for his first goal for Finn Harps.

Rowe almost rescued Wexford with a late, lighting run into the box, Baba heroically intercepted his cutback with Harps clearing the corner to clinch all three points.

The win keeps maintains their flying start, already into double points-digits, ten with this victory. Wexford left to digest a bitter second loss of the campaign.

Up next, Wexford are back on the road travelling to the Carlisle Grounds to face Bray Wanderers. The same night, next Friday evening, Harps return to Finn Park hosting Kerry in Ballybofey.

Wexford: Owen Mason; Reece Webb, Darragh Levingston (Cian Curtis 74), Ben Lynch, Cian O’Malley, Ethan Boyle ©, Aaron Robinson (Thomas Oluwa 60), Mikie Rowe, Kian Corbally (Luka Lovic 74), Arron Dobbs, Mark Hanratty.

Subs not used: Alex Moody (gk), James Crawford, Carl Lennox, Kaylem Harnett, Brandon McCan, Oisin McDonagh.

Booked: Luka Lovic (81), Ethan Boyle (88).

Finn Harps: Tim Heimer; Conor Tourish, Jamie Watson, Matty Makinson, Noe Baba, Stephen Doherty (Max Hutchison 46), David Cawley, Tony McNamee © (Sean O’Donnell 83), Luke O’Brien (Shane McMonagle 69), Mark Mbuli (Patrick Ferry 46), Success Edogun.

Subs not used: Conor Walsh (gk), Darragh Coyle, Chris Lotefa, Max Johnston.

Booked: Luke O’Brien (67), Matty Makinson (71), Max Hutchison (77), Conor Tourish (82).

Referee: Robert Dowling.

Attendance: 1,010 (estimate).

extratime.com Player of the Match:  Conor Tourish (Finn Harps).

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— extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) March 15, 2024