- Stuart Connolly
- Sat, Aug 05 2023
Stuart Connolly reports from Finn Park
Finn Harps scored a late equaliser to bag a well earned point against runaway league leaders Galway United at Finn Park.
Harps put those in maroon under all sorts of pressure throughout the 90 minutes and played over an hour with a man advantage after Vincent Borden was shown a straight red card.
Before that sending off Galway bagged the opening goal courtesy of Ronan Manning.
Less than a minute into the second-half Sean O'Donnell put Harps level and chances were flying off the conveyor belt as Rob Slevin put the visitors in front.
Harps continued to create and it was very late that Daithi McCallion popped up to extend Harps unbeaten run to five games with his first goal of the season.
Dave Rogers implemented four changes to his lineup that triumphed late against Kerry last week with goalscorer BJ Banda handed his first start since re-signing for the club.
Antonio Tuta was handed a debut in between the sticks while captain Ryan Rainey was welcomed back after a lengthy injury layoff.
Caoimhin Porter was the other change in the team as John Caulfield's side remained unchanged after their win against Bray Wanderers.
Harps began on the front foot and the pick of the bunch in terms of chances fell to Ryan Flood who latched onto a through pass from Tony McNamee but the shot was parried by Brendan Clarke.
With a quarter of an hour gone, Scott Wara was hesitant on the ball in the defensive third and that moment allowed Ronan Manning to nip in and chip the ball beyond the onrushing Antonio Tuta.
With just 23 minutes on the clock, the referee made a big decision after a strong lunge from Vincent Borden on Jamie Watson.
There was no hesitation from Paul Norton who reached for his back pocket and issued the red card.
Galway United had one more chance during the first-half as Manning fired a free kick narrowly wide of goal.
Harps, however, had a couple of opportunities via the boot of Caoimhin Porter but both goal bound shots were blocked at close range.
Queue the second-half and some in the ground may have been just back in their seats after a halftime cuppa as Harps levelled via the head of a halftime substitute.
Ryan Flood floated in a cross from the left side and the unmarked Sean O'Donnell headed home from close range.
McNamee had a similar chance moments later but this header was parried away by Clarke and the follow up from Patrick Ferry was thwarted.
Galway United's defensive record is by far the best in the league (roughly a goal conceded every other game) and even against ten men, Harps were faced with a side who didn't know the feeling of conceding twice in a league game this season.
Scoring over two goals was never a problem for the visitors, having done so on fifteen occasions prior to kick off and this match marked down number sixteen as Rob Slevin struck against his former club with a strike from close range after Killian Brouder had kept a searching cross alive with 20 minutes to go.
Harps threw everything they had forward in the final stages of the game and had a number of decent opportunities but Galway stood firm, until the last minute.
A long throw-in from the left by Tony McNamee floated towards the area and it fell invitingly for Daithi McCallion who put his effort low into the bottom left corner just beyond the grasp of Clarke.
Finn Harps: Antonio Tuta; Jamie Watson, Scott Wara(Daithi McCallion 44), Matty Makinson, Stephen Doherty(Patrick Ferry ht); Ryan Rainey, Tony McNamee, Max Hutchison(Dan Stokoe 89), Caoimhin Porter(Aaron McLaughlin 76), Ryan Flood; BJ Banda(Sean O'Donnell ht).
Subs not used: Oisin Cooney(GK),Noe Baba,Shane McMonagle, Seamas Keogh.
Booked: Scott Wara (24), BJ Banda (33), Ryan Rainey (59).
Galway United: Brendan Clarke; Colm Horgan(Regan Donelon 59), Rob Slevin, Killian Brouder, Oisin O'Reilly(Wassim Aouachria 59); Vincent Borden, Conor McCormack, Edward McCarthy(Evan O'Connor 78), David Hurley, Ronan Manning(Aodh Dervin ht); Stephen Walsh(Francely Lomboto 59).
Subs not used: Sean Barron, Maurice Nugent, Robert Manley, David Tarmey
Booked: Killian Brouder (24), David Hurley (60).
Sent off: Vincent Borden (24).
Referee: Paul Norton
extratime.com Player of the Match: Ryan Flood (Finn Harps).
