Preview: Cobh Ramblers vs Finn Harps

The middle third of the season kicks-off on Friday night as Harps look for a repeat performance of the opening day as they make the six-hundred mile round trip to St. Colmans Park in Cobh. When the teams met in the very first match of the season at the beginning of March, Harps were victorious by the odd goal in three with Conor Gethins and Sean Williams on the scoresheet for Paul Hegarty's side.

The Harps boss will be looking for a similar result when he takes his side on their longest away journey of the season tomorrow. "I would like to build on the two draws we've got in the last two games and we're going to Cobh and will be looking for a result. We'll be going there in a positive frame of mind and there were positives to be taken from Friday's game (against Shamrock Rovers). Let's build on that," he said.

"We know them well at this stage and by all accounts they were unlucky against Derry last week", commented Hegarty on Cobh. "They're a big strong physical side and have plenty of good players. We'll not put ourselves under any pressure by saying that it'll make or break our season, but it's certainly an important game for us."

As the squad set off for Cobh on Thursday afternoon, Hegarty had to leave behind long term absentee Jonathan Minnock (Achilles). Minnock has been joined by Aaron Labonte (knee), James Gallagher (hip) and Cornelius Gallagher (ligament) in the Finn Park treatment room and none will travel to the County Cork venue. Gary Beckett has resumed full training and could feature in the squad in the upcoming three games this week.

Hegarty was pleased with the way his side battled back from a goal down against Shamrock Rovers last Friday. "I thought that our second half performance was very good overall" he said. "We kept the ball well and passed it well and caused Shamrock Rovers a lot of problems. With a wee bit of luck we might have won the game. To be fair, we showed a bit of character when we could just as easily have folded. The boys didn't throw in the towel."

After two draws on the bounce, Harps will be hoping to extend their mini-run to three unbeaten. A point would be classed as a good return, but Hegarty and Harps will be hoping for victory to open a five point gap on Stephen Henderson's Cobh side.