Limavady United 1 - 0 Finn Harps

*This article first appeared in the Donegal Democrat*

Finn Harps fell to defeat in their opening pre-season game of 2012 on Tuesday night as Lee Patrick’s seventh-minute goal gave Limavady United a win from a dour affair at The Showgrounds.

Experimental Harps gave debuts to new signings Hugh Carlin and Adam Clarke in a five-man midfield while Letterkenny man Ciaran Greene came off the bench in the second-half for his first appearance. Harps also had a few trialists to come on as substitutes with Derry-based goalkeeper Emmet Deeney and Eamon Gallagher getting a run-out having come through the recent open trial held in Strabane, while Sligo man Darragh Healy and Ryan McGarvey, a Derry man who played with Killea FC in the Ulster Senior League last year, also came on during the second-half.

Another new face was Conor McNulty, who impressed at right-back. The Ballybofey man was with Sligo Rovers ‘A’ team last season and most recently played with Curragh Athletic. Comfortable on the ball and with an assured air of confidence, McNulty was the brightest spark from a Harps perspective on an otherwise drab night in the Roe Valley.

2011 player of the year Keith Cowan dealt with most of what came his way, while Adam Clarke showed enough flashes on the left wing. It was in the middle of the park where Harps seemed to lack most and it is this are that Felix Healy and Peter Hutton might have marked as a priority in terms of pre-season targets while the centre-back position, following Packie Mailey’s appearance for Derry City on Tuesday night, is another place that is in need of some surgery.

Limavady took the lead with the first meaningful attack of the game after seven minutes. Cahir Friel’s right-wing cross caught out the static Harps rearguard and Lee Patrick had the easy task of slotting home from close-range.

Captain Kevin McHugh, operating as the lone frontman in the 4-5-1 formation, had Harps’ first shot on goal, but a tame effort was wide before Thomas Bonner’s stabbed effort was welll held by Laurence McCormick after McHugh teed up the Letterkenny man on the edge of the box.

Limavady had a chance to force Ciaran Gallagher into action when Trevor Parkhill was hacked down right on the edge of the box, but full-back Gareth McConachie drove well over the top. The assistant referee’s flag halted a promising Harps attack that concluded with McHugh squaring for Clarke to finish off a deflected effort, but the ex-Derry City and Institute man was deemed to have been offside.

Half-time brought about a raft of changes from the home side - under the management of former Harps goalkeeper David Platt - while a deluge of change for Harps meant the tie really took on the feel of a friendly contest. As a result of the stop-start nature, the fare on offer in the second-half wasn’t too eye-catching.

James Doherty was watching from the sidelines as the Kilmacrennan man recovers from a flu’ while Stephen O’Donnell was on duty with the Irish Defence Forces team. Lacking greatly in some physical strength, Healy and Hutton will kee  their eyes peeled on possible transfer recruits in the coming weeks in a bid to beef up a squad that is wafer-thin at this albeit early juncture.

Limavady United: McCormick, Harkin, Rodden, McConachie, Roddy, Patrick, Friel, McClean, Parkhill, P. McLaughlin, McIvor.

Subs: Lynch for Patrick (half-time); Morrisson for McIvor (half-time); Logue for McClean (half-time); Close for Roddy (half-time); Walsh for McConachie (52 mins); J McLaughlin for P McLaughlin (62 mins); Blackburn for Friel (65 mins); Hutchinson for Parkhill (65 mins)

Finn Harps: Ciaran Gallagher; Conor McNulty, Aaron O’Hagan, Keith Cowan, Ciaran Coll; Blaine Curtis, Barry O’Mahony, Hugh Carlin, Thomas Bonner, Adam Clarke; Kevin McHugh.

Subs: Ciaran Greene for Coll (53 mins); Ryan McGarvey for O’Hagan (53 mins); Daragh Healy for Bonner (62 mins); Eamon Gallagher for Clarke (64 mins); Emmet Deeney for C Gallagher (64 mins); Aaron O’Hagan for McGarvey (76 mins).

Referee: Paddy McFadden.