Finn Harps 1:2 UCD 27/03/2009

Miserable conditions with a cross-wind that brought gusting drizzle, then clear spells, then heavy rain and back again. All the time, the wind made it very difficult to judge the flight of the ball.

UCD started well after two minutes, Kilduff (?) shot was blocked and McMillan was at hand to score from a prostrate position inside the six-yard box. Finn Harps reacted well and number two (Doherty?) and number seven (Rossitor?) linked well in putting over some inviting crosses. Finn Harps equaliser came from another long-range shot, this time from Funston. Brennan, making his first start in a League game, was out of his goal and was beaten all-ends-up.
One minute later, maybe less, Kilduff was brought down in the box and he cored the peno. UCD were getting alot of joy by knocking the ball over the top for Mulhall and Kilduff to run onto. Or Finn and Reilly to make strong runs.

The ref. had let go challenges where there appeared to be no malice involved, while the game was frenetic it was also quite slow. In the second half, Mulhall withstood a challenge from a Harps midfeilder. The Harps player had to be stretchered off and I hope he makes a speedy recovery.

Creavy in the middle, had one shot over the bar in the first half and brought off a save from the Harps 'Keeper Cullen in the second.

Leahy for Shorthall, Bolger for Finn was enforced as Finn limped off and McMahon came in another substitution.

It is a performance that should give the team alot of heart because they know they can compete with the best in the Division on a terrible night.

Both teams should be given credit for performing

so same starting line-up as last week except for Billy Brennan in goal instead of Ger Barron?

(Brennan; Harding, Shortall, Boyle, Leahy; Creevy, Reilly, Finn, Mulhall; D McMillan, Kilduff)

Evan McMillan started instead of Michael Leahy also. Leahy was on the bench.

I wasn't at the match so I can't comment on the performance but a tough away win in Donegal represents another step forward for this new team's progress.

Did Finn look badly injured?

Harps number 2 was Funston and number 7 was Conaghan.

Will post highlights footage as soon as our camera man has it ready. Def not a penalty and Gethins goal was not offside either according to Michael when he looked back over the footage.

Best of luck, ye will be top 2 come the end of the season easily.

I am not a dentist but no, Finn didn't look badly injured. But I would say he's still feeling it today and I dont know about the Kildare game. It was a hard game for both sides.


Finn Harps did deserve something from the game. (Schumi mentioned that in his twitter updates). The Gethins effort would have been a worthy equaliser.

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Originally Posted by Poor Student

Did Finn look badly injured?

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He limped fairly heavily off, but he walked off at least. May miss next week at a guess, but shouldn't be anything medium-term.

Harps deserved a point. Bit disappointed how we didn't take the game to them with the wind, but the pitch was a disgrace (again) and made football pretty much impossible. Ref was also a disgrace and let several late tackles which could have been dangerous on the slippy pitch go unpunished. Harps' goal was a complete fluke, and we nearly got almost the same goal in the second half (ball landed on the roof of the net from 60 yards). Have to be happy with three points from a place we don't have a great record on a pitch which made the game a lottery.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

He limped fairly heavily off, but he walked off at least. May miss next week at a guess, but shouldn't be anything medium-term.

Harps deserved a point. Bit disappointed how we didn't take the game to them with the wind, but the pitch was a disgrace (again) and made football pretty much impossible. Ref was also a disgrace and let several late tackles which could have been dangerous on the slippy pitch go unpunished. Harps' goal was a complete fluke, and we nearly got almost the same goal in the second half (ball landed on the roof of the net from 60 yards). Have to be happy with three points from a place we don't have a great record on a pitch which made the game a lottery.

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The extent of Finn's injury is unknown at the moment, but it's nothing long term at least. He'll miss the Kildare game at most I think.

Shortall picked up a knock as well though! :(

Who hit that shot onto the top of the roof of the net in the 2nd half?

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Originally Posted by colmanthesaint

The extent of Finn's injury is unknown at the moment, but it's nothing long term at least. He'll miss the Kildare game at most I think.

Shortall picked up a knock as well though! :(

Who hit that shot onto the top of the roof of the net in the 2nd half?

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It was a kick out from your 'keepers hands.

That Kilduff scored again, is that some sort of record at this stage?

Fairly sure it was a goal kick that almost caught Cullen out. Thought UCD played really well despite the conditions. The margin of defeat would have been much higher in better conditions in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by the_horse

That Kilduff scored again, is that some sort of record at this stage?

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Perhaps someone with access to the records of our last season in the First Division could bring up Willie Doyle's record for comparison. He scored fifteen goals in the first half of the season before an injury took the wind out of him. I'd be interested to see how many games on the trot he scored in.

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Originally Posted by John83

Perhaps someone with access to the records of our last season in the First Division could bring up Willie Doyle's record for comparison. He scored fifteen goals in the first half of the season before an injury took the wind out of him. I'd be interested to see how many games on the trot he scored in.

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Scored one in the first game of the season, two in the second, none in third and one in fourth. Didn't go on a really good scoring run till end of May/June.

(got info from Blue Review, Vol 2 Issue 20)

It was a question for the Kildare programme quiz - who's the last player to score in four consecutive games for us. We had to withdraw it after we couldn't find an answer.

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Originally Posted by Sam Heggy

It was a kick out from your 'keepers hands.

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Bloody hell! I was sending someone an update at the time, and only saw the shot from half way. Would have been two keepers scoring in two seasons.

On a similar note, Billy didn't take the peno...