Hutton taking it a game at a time
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Finn Harps manager Peter Hutton couldn’t praise his players highly enough after they held Longford Town to a scoreless draw in the 3rd Round of the FAI Cup on Friday night, having played the majority of the second half with 10 men.
Harps were dealt a huge blow 11 minutes after the restart when Kevin McHugh was sent off for dissent but they battled hard and deserved their result. “I knew once we went down to 10 men it was going to be difficult but the lads battled well,” the Harps boss told extratime.ie. “To be fair they were exceptional and worked their socks off. We got our just rewards.”
Speaking about the sending-off, Hutton knows the striker left referee John McLoughlin with little option but to issue a red card after he questioned a decision he thought had gone against Harps. His manager was frustrated with him. “I’m disappointed to say the least. Kevin thought the referee had given a penalty against us and he went to dispute it. We have to learn from that. A lot of our bookings were for dissent and that’s something that I have to nip in the bud because it could cost us.”
By their own standards the Town front two of Austin Skelly and Don Cowan had very quiet games, partly due to Harps’ resolute defending. The back four did a great job of containing the two strikers. “It was great the way the lads played especially when some of our defenders had picked up early bookings. That was disappointed. I thought they coped very well with Longford’s front two,” said the Harps boss.
After a miserable run of results in the league; just one win this season Hutton was delighted to have the cup game. It came as a welcome distraction to him and his players and he was delighted to come away with a draw. “It’s good to have a break away from the league but we approach the games in the same way. It’s very difficult to come to Longford and get a result at the best of times. Going down to 10 men so early in the second half made it more difficult. We did well to keep ourselves in the draw.”
It’s been a month since the former Derry City defender took over the reins at Finn Park. He’s under no illusions of how tough it’s going to be but he’s up for the challenge. He said, “It’s going to take us a while to find our feet. It’s going to be a long transition to where we want to be and it’s going to take a lot of hard work. If everyone is patient and pulling in the right direction we’ll be fine. We’re approaching it game by game. We are assessing the squad and seeing what level the players are at and see if we need to make additions.”
Harps were dealt a huge blow 11 minutes after the restart when Kevin McHugh was sent off for dissent but they battled hard and deserved their result. “I knew once we went down to 10 men it was going to be difficult but the lads battled well,” the Harps boss told extratime.ie. “To be fair they were exceptional and worked their socks off. We got our just rewards.”
Speaking about the sending-off, Hutton knows the striker left referee John McLoughlin with little option but to issue a red card after he questioned a decision he thought had gone against Harps. His manager was frustrated with him. “I’m disappointed to say the least. Kevin thought the referee had given a penalty against us and he went to dispute it. We have to learn from that. A lot of our bookings were for dissent and that’s something that I have to nip in the bud because it could cost us.”
By their own standards the Town front two of Austin Skelly and Don Cowan had very quiet games, partly due to Harps’ resolute defending. The back four did a great job of containing the two strikers. “It was great the way the lads played especially when some of our defenders had picked up early bookings. That was disappointed. I thought they coped very well with Longford’s front two,” said the Harps boss.
After a miserable run of results in the league; just one win this season Hutton was delighted to have the cup game. It came as a welcome distraction to him and his players and he was delighted to come away with a draw. “It’s good to have a break away from the league but we approach the games in the same way. It’s very difficult to come to Longford and get a result at the best of times. Going down to 10 men so early in the second half made it more difficult. We did well to keep ourselves in the draw.”
It’s been a month since the former Derry City defender took over the reins at Finn Park. He’s under no illusions of how tough it’s going to be but he’s up for the challenge. He said, “It’s going to take us a while to find our feet. It’s going to be a long transition to where we want to be and it’s going to take a lot of hard work. If everyone is patient and pulling in the right direction we’ll be fine. We’re approaching it game by game. We are assessing the squad and seeing what level the players are at and see if we need to make additions.”
