Gallagher aims to end season on high
Credit:
Finn Harps bring their season to a close in Ballybofey tonight when they welcome Mervue United to Finn Park hoping to conclude the 2010 campaign on a real high, kick-off 7.45.
Both sides have something in common in that they halted the then top two in last weekend’s penultimate round of matches, however Mervue’s result proved to hold more significance as it effectively handed Derry City the league title.
The Galway side’s shock win over Monaghan United spared the Candy Stripes a nightmare scenario of going to Gortakeegan this weekend needing to avoid defeat after Stephen Kenny’s side could only take a point from their high-octane derby encounter with Finn Harps last Friday.
So, effectively, the two sides are coming into the game off the back of, arguably, their best performances of the season, respectively.
Harps, though, have double the cause to remain extra focused as they aim to finish the season with seven points from their final three games, while also looking to leapfrog Wexford Youths in the race for seventh, following last weekend’s away win for the south-easterner’s over Longford Town.
“It was good to follow up from the Cork game where we took three points to go into Derry and take a point. Apart from taking a point and getting any kind of a result, it’s extra special when you put in a performance, too,” Harps manager James Gallagher reflected on the morale boost the last couple of results will have done for his side, especially the latter.
The Donegal side’s win over Cork a fortnight ago was the first three points they took off a side in the top half of the table since a 1-0 away win over Monaghan in the third gameweek of the campaign. To follow it up, though, with an equally impressive showing against the impending champions certainly broadened the smile on the faces of all involved with Harps even further.
And Gallagher admits it has been a little long in the pipeline, but insisted on reminding everyone of the lack of experience a lot of his squad have of playing week in, week out at such a physically demanding level of football.
He said: “It’s maybe a little frustrating from a fans point of view when you see what the boys are capable of at times, but they are human beings. People maybe don’t buy it when I say they are young, what I mean by that is they are very young in terms of First Division League of Ireland experience.
“A lot of them have only played games in and around the thirty, forty, fifty mark and that’s not an awful lot of games in this league. They’ve got better, certain amount of individuals have got an awful lot better, as the season has gone on. Some have got a wee bit slower, but in general I think everybody is getting a wee bit better.
“That’s what the season has been about. We knew when we started out that we weren’t going to be pushing for promotion or anything like that. We were looking at a top-five position, so the Derry result in that regard was important as we look to cement seventh spot.”
Gallagher is well aware, however, of Mervue’s status and their potential to upset the odds, as they proved no sooner than last week, with everybody watching. In fact, the first time they played Monaghan, where they drew 1-1 at Terryland Park, they followed up a week later with a surprise 3-2 win over Harps in Ballybofey.
That result in May - possibly the lowest point of the season for Harps - on top of last week’s win over Mick Cooke’s Monaghan will have the diminutive Galway team arriving in the north-west full of confidence they can bring Harps firmly back down to earth after their heroic exploits last Friday.
“We’ll have prepared properly for it. Mervue are a team that if they get their tales up they can cause you a lot of problems. Obviously, when we played Mervue at Finn Park before, we didn’t start the game and we got punished severely for it. But, we’ll look forward to it, it’s our last game of the season. We’ll be set up where we’d like to follow up the performances and results against Derry and Cork, and hopefully we can end the season with a win,” said the Harps boss.
Incidentally, the defeat Mervue inflicted on Harps earlier in the season was the last time in the league Gallagher’s side suffered a loss at home. A win, or draw, tomorrow evening would signal an unbeaten home record in the league of eleven games.
Both sides have something in common in that they halted the then top two in last weekend’s penultimate round of matches, however Mervue’s result proved to hold more significance as it effectively handed Derry City the league title.
The Galway side’s shock win over Monaghan United spared the Candy Stripes a nightmare scenario of going to Gortakeegan this weekend needing to avoid defeat after Stephen Kenny’s side could only take a point from their high-octane derby encounter with Finn Harps last Friday.
So, effectively, the two sides are coming into the game off the back of, arguably, their best performances of the season, respectively.
Harps, though, have double the cause to remain extra focused as they aim to finish the season with seven points from their final three games, while also looking to leapfrog Wexford Youths in the race for seventh, following last weekend’s away win for the south-easterner’s over Longford Town.
“It was good to follow up from the Cork game where we took three points to go into Derry and take a point. Apart from taking a point and getting any kind of a result, it’s extra special when you put in a performance, too,” Harps manager James Gallagher reflected on the morale boost the last couple of results will have done for his side, especially the latter.
The Donegal side’s win over Cork a fortnight ago was the first three points they took off a side in the top half of the table since a 1-0 away win over Monaghan in the third gameweek of the campaign. To follow it up, though, with an equally impressive showing against the impending champions certainly broadened the smile on the faces of all involved with Harps even further.
And Gallagher admits it has been a little long in the pipeline, but insisted on reminding everyone of the lack of experience a lot of his squad have of playing week in, week out at such a physically demanding level of football.
He said: “It’s maybe a little frustrating from a fans point of view when you see what the boys are capable of at times, but they are human beings. People maybe don’t buy it when I say they are young, what I mean by that is they are very young in terms of First Division League of Ireland experience.
“A lot of them have only played games in and around the thirty, forty, fifty mark and that’s not an awful lot of games in this league. They’ve got better, certain amount of individuals have got an awful lot better, as the season has gone on. Some have got a wee bit slower, but in general I think everybody is getting a wee bit better.
“That’s what the season has been about. We knew when we started out that we weren’t going to be pushing for promotion or anything like that. We were looking at a top-five position, so the Derry result in that regard was important as we look to cement seventh spot.”
Gallagher is well aware, however, of Mervue’s status and their potential to upset the odds, as they proved no sooner than last week, with everybody watching. In fact, the first time they played Monaghan, where they drew 1-1 at Terryland Park, they followed up a week later with a surprise 3-2 win over Harps in Ballybofey.
That result in May - possibly the lowest point of the season for Harps - on top of last week’s win over Mick Cooke’s Monaghan will have the diminutive Galway team arriving in the north-west full of confidence they can bring Harps firmly back down to earth after their heroic exploits last Friday.
“We’ll have prepared properly for it. Mervue are a team that if they get their tales up they can cause you a lot of problems. Obviously, when we played Mervue at Finn Park before, we didn’t start the game and we got punished severely for it. But, we’ll look forward to it, it’s our last game of the season. We’ll be set up where we’d like to follow up the performances and results against Derry and Cork, and hopefully we can end the season with a win,” said the Harps boss.
Incidentally, the defeat Mervue inflicted on Harps earlier in the season was the last time in the league Gallagher’s side suffered a loss at home. A win, or draw, tomorrow evening would signal an unbeaten home record in the league of eleven games.
