Finn Harps 3 - 1 St. Patrick's Athletic - PREVIEW | 2017 League of Ireland Premier Division | extratime.com - The Home of Irish Football

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League Preview: Finn Harps -v- St Patrick's Athletic

Graham Russell
Mon, May 22 2017

Finn Harps host St Patrick’s Athletic at Ballybofey in a bottom of the table clash this evening. (Kick-off 8:00 PM).

FINN HARPS

Finn Harps manager Ollie Horgan has suspension and injury headaches ahead of tomorrow night’s League of Ireland Premier Division game against St. Patrick’s Athletic in Ballybofey (kick-off 8.00 PM).

“We’re in bother again for tomorrow night’s game against Pat’s with Ciaran O’Connor and Kilian Cantwell both suspended. And we have a couple of players out because of injuries.

“Paddy McCourt just had to come off in the first half in Galway with a hamstring injury and it was the same story with Barry Molloy who just couldn’t continue going into the last half-hour on Friday night because of a groin problem.

“Caolan McAleer took a very heavy knock on the foot in Galway and fair play he played onto near the end but he eventually had to come off. Barry [Molloy and Paddy [McCourt] are out for tomorrow night and Caolan [McAleer] is a big doubt.”

Horgan is hoping up that his players will be fresh enough to really have a go at getting something out of the game with Pat’s after the quick three-day turnaround.

“We really tired towards the end in Galway so recovery is an issue with the Pat’s match coming just three days later. The season might not have great so far for Pat’s but they still some really top players going forward in Conan Byrne, Kurtis Byrne and Christy Fagan while Gavin Peers and Ian Bermingham are very experienced defenders.

“Liam Buckley will be looking for a win at Finn Park so even with a fully fit squad it would be very difficult for us to get a result. But, it’s again going to be a chance for younger players to come in and stake a claim for regular places” Horgan said.

Galway's Vinny Faherty pounced for a dramatic injury-time winner at Eamonn Deacy park last Friday night, at Finn Harps expense.

It was very harsh for Harps not to leave Galway with the three points though, with Barry Molloy's strike in the 55^th minute giving the Donegal club the lead.

Ultimately though, it was in vain as Ronan Murray scored from the penalty spot to equalise with fifteen left.

Faherty got his winner much to the dismay of Harps' fans and boss Ollie Horgan who was sent to the stands for no reason according to the man himself.

Finn Harps would love a repeat of the same scoreline the last time the two sides met. A 2-1 win in Inchicore for the Donegal club was a result back in Gameweek 3.

The Galway defeat meant five in a row now in the league, so it is paramount to get something from this game if they have any aspirations of staying up.

They simply need to be beating teams around them for that to happen. This game is the perfect opportunity to do so.

ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC

St Pat's are back in action tomorrow night when they face the trip to Ballybofey to take on Finn Harps in the SSE Airtricty League.

The Saints, unbeaten in their last 4 league games, will be looking to leave Donegal with all 3 points tomorrow as they look to climb up the league table.

In the last game on Friday night, they came unstuck at home in Richmond Park. Christy Fagan scored a beautiful header but another header from Sligo Rovers Mick Leahy on 81 minutes meant the spoils were shared.

Gavin Peers played well on Friday night but broke down with an injury and went off at half-time. Saints fans will hope it was nothing too serious and he’ll be back to his solid self from tomorrow.

His partner Rory Feely had better games, as he made countless errors in defence. Hopefully a better showing in this game for the youngster.

Manager Liam Buckley comments on the Sligo game were positive but rued dropping two points from winning positions.

“I thought we did really well in the first half. Plenty of chances and played well. The game was very open in the second half.

“Second half though, for the first twenty minutes we didn’t really get into it. The gathered a bit of momentum. The set play for their goal was just really disappointing from our end. We should have just tightened it up at the back”

On the return of talisman Christy Fagan from injury, Bucko was in complimentary mood towards his number 9.

“I’ve seen how good he’s looked since his comeback so hopefully that will evident in the next few weeks. Scoring goals breeds confidence for yourself and the group, so please god he keeps it up.”

On Tonight’s game, Buckley is aware Harps have already beaten his side at home but just wants his charges to concentrate on themselves.

“I know they’re a dangerous side but if we apply ourselves right, we’ll be okay. We just need to up the quality levels.

“You need to perform in every game and if you don’t you’ll get turned over. We just need to make sure our application is right.”

Referee: Ray Matthews

MATCH FACTS

Finn Harps won the last league game back in March, winning 2-1 in Gameweek 3. Finn Harps have lost their last five games in a row.

There has been 11 games in the league between the pair, Pats winning 8 to Harps' 1. There has been 2 draws.

There has been 3 goals on average scored in this fixture.

Finn Harps last five games: LLLLL

St Patrick’s Athletic last five games: DWDDL

PREDICTION

Finn Harps 1-2 St Patrick’s Athletic