Credit:
Waterford United -v- Finn Harps
- Brendan White
- Fri, Oct 08 2010
Waterford United will look to bounce back from last weekend’s defeat to Monaghan United when Finn Harps visit the RSC on Saturday evening. Kick-Off 7pm.
Waterford lead Monaghan United 2-0 at half time after Willie John Kiely and Vinny Sullivan both headed goals to put the visiting team in a commanding position. The second half that followed saw a complete collapse as Monaghan scored four in a twenty minute second half spell. At the same time, Finn Harps were also on the comeback trail as they came from 2-0 down against Athlone Town to grab a 2-2 draw with goals from Stephen McLaughlin and Kevin McHugh.
The results leave Waterford drop to fourth place but four wins from their remaining four games will be enough for a play-off spot as they face Shelbourne, also fighting for third place, in their final fixture of the season. Finn Harps sit in eighth place just three points Wexford Youths.
For the home side, Willie John Kiely is only absentee as he serves a one match suspension after collecting four yellow cards. The suspension should see Paul Murphy partner Vinny Sullivan up front for the Blues.
Waterford United manager Stephen Henderson was at odds to understand last weekend’s implosion but insists the focus is on the next game. "There is no point in me trying to make excuses for last week's implosion. It was a first for me as a manager to give up a two goal half time lead, and I fully accept the criticism that comes with that. The players were devastated after the game and emotions ran high. I had my outburst, the players had theirs, so now we all feel better. Time to forget about last week, focus on Finn Harps, and get back to winning football matches."
"This squad's strength is not that they do not fail from time to time, but how they respond in a positive manner anytime they do so. There are people who believe we blew our promotion chance last week but the reality is it is still in our own hands. Losing last week was only a temporary change of direction that has set us straight for what has to be four wins starting Saturday."
The visitors have a number of personnel problems coming into the game. Packie Mailey and Marc Brolly miss out again though suspension while Goalkeeper Ciaran Gallagher is unavailable as he is on International duty with the Republic of Ireland Under-19 squad in Bulgaria. Michael Funston is available again after a long lay-off, but Chris Breen’s shoulder injury rules him out.
“Overall, it was just a poor, disjointed performance against a team who are negative in the way they set up to play, hoping to get wee breaks here and there. Overall, though, even if the ‘keeper doesn’t pull off that save near the end to deny Mattie (Crossan), and we win the game, I’d still be sitting here very disappointed with the performance”, Harps boss James Gallagher said of last week’s 2-2 draw.
Looking to the trip south, Gallagher is setting his side up for the three points. “We don’t have a lot to play for between now and the end of the season, but we want to pick up as many points as we can. We will be going to Waterford looking for the three points, as there is no point going all the way down there looking for a draw. Individual errors have cost us four points in the last two games – we really should have won both those games. It’s been much that way all season though, we have been our own worst enemies.”
Waterford United haven’t lost to Finn Harps since the play-off series at the end of the 2007 season and have put six goals past Harps in the last two game in the RSC. Harps last five games have seen just three points collected while Waterford have three and lost just one, scoring 14 in the process.
Venue: RSC
Referee: R. Rogers
paddypower.com odds: Waterford United 3/1 Draw 9/4 Finn Harps 4/5
Waterford United
Doubtful: None
Injured: None
Suspended: Willie John Kiely
Finn Harps
Injured: Chris Breen
Suspended: Packie Mailey, Marc Brolly
Unavailable: Ciaran Gallagher (International Duty)
Extratime.ie Prediction: Kiely missing for Waterford is a big blow, but they should have enough to overcome Harps by a single goal. 2-1.
About Brendan White
Brendan White is Extratime News Editor and is responsible for the news section of Extratime.ie. Brendan also covers matches in Dublin and Waterford. You can contact Brendan on twitter @whitebrendan.