Finn Harps vs UCD

• Keith Wallace
• Fri, Sep 05 2008




Relegation candidates Finn Harps and UCD will do battle for the last time this season when the sides meet in a critical eircom League of Ireland Premier Division clash at Finn Park this Friday night (kick-off 8pm). With Harps just sitting one point above their opponents who currently occupy the drop zone, this match is likely to prove a pivotal one come the end of the season - though the home side will know that another win over the Students will open up a small gap at the bottom of the standings for the first time this season.

These teams have already met twice during the course of this year’s campaign, with everything even so far. When UCD last visited Donegal back in March, they were undone by a sweet strike from the now departed Shaun Williams. The college outfit were to gain revenge for that narrow loss, however, when their own young midfielder, Ronan Finn, fired home to give his side a vital 1-0 victory in May. However, since that, UCD have been stuck in deep relegation form, with just one win - away to Galway United - in their last 14 outings in all competitions.

Harps, for their part, have also struggled badly, picking up just seven points from the subsequent 27 available since that reversal at the Belfield Bowl. Eye-catching in that poor run of form was the surrender of a 2-0 lead at home to Cobh Ramblers a fortnight ago - a result which could well prove extremely costly yet. That disappointing draw was followed up with a narrow defeat to local rivals Derry City at the Brandywell last weekend, with manager Paul Hegarty encouraged by his side’s second-half showing.

“We didn't play that well in the first-half, but I thought that we had a right go in the second-half,” he said. “We got in behind them a number of times and it was just the final ball that let us down in the final third. We just couldn't find the killer ball and that might be down to a wee lack of confidence. We took the game to them in the last 20 minutes. We were a bit disrupted before kick-off when Aaron (Labonte) couldn't play and then we lost Conor (Gethins) during the game and gave the goal away. It seems as if that's the way the season is going for us.”

Hegarty also knows that his troops will have to work extremely hard to get a positive result this Friday. “It's tough at the bottom and UCD are in a very similar position to us and we'll be taking nothing for granted,” he stated. “We'll be looking to get a result and so will they, but these are the sort of games that will have a big impact come the end of the season. Looking back at the previous two games this season, we know that it's going to be very tough this weekend.

“At home, I thought we did fine. We worked hard, were well organised, and I don't think that we were under pressure in that game. In the return, we were sloppy and I think that we let ourselves down badly with what wasn't our best showing of the season by any matter or means. We didn't look up for it and we were made pay.”

Team News: Hosts Harps will be without suspended winger Marc Brolly, and that’s a loss that Hegarty could have done without, as the youngster joins Conor Gethins, Aaron Labonte, Gary Beckett and Corny Gallagher on the sidelines. On the plus side, talisman Declan Boyle may return having missed the last two matches through injury. UCD, meanwhile, have their own suspension worries, as both Darren Meenan and Brian King must sit this one out as a result of accumulating eight and four penalty points respectively.