BARRY MOLLOY was born and bred by the Brandywell, but the Finn Harps midfielder is relishing Friday’s north-west derby against his hometown club.
The 33-year-old hails from Bishop Street, just overlooking Derry City’s ground.
A combination of Ollie Horgan’s persuading and Kevin McHugh’s convincing pulled Molloy out of retirement on the eve of this season.
He spent a large chunk of the early part of the campaign injured but, since May, Molloy has been back in the groove again.
Now, he wants to help get Harps, without a win in their last three, back to winning ways against the Candystripes in the 62nd north-west derby.
“We have put ourselves in a good position, but we have to push on now and make it difficult for the teams trying to catch us,” Molloy – who notes his delight at the appointment of Paul Hegarty as Horgan’s assistant manager – says.
“We are still in touch with the likes of Bohs ahead of us so we could still push up a bit.
“We need to stop the rot we’re in. We created plenty of chances on Friday night (when Harps lost 2-0 to Bohs at Dalymount Park), but we didn’t take them.
“Friday’s a huge game against Derry. We need to make it count. I just saw something earlier there that we haven’t lost a derby game this season yet. We’ve beaten Derry and Sligo at home and drew with them away – those points have been massive for us.”
Harps lost for the first time in five against Bray and, after Wexford left Ballybofey with a 1-0 win, Ollie Horgan’s team were on the wrong end of a 2-0 scoreline against Bohemians.
[adrotate group=”46″]Yet, Harps, now entering the final third of the season, have eight points to spare on Wexford, who are in the play-off spot, and are 13 in front of Longford, the League’s basement side.
“Everyone was writing us off at the start of the season,” Molloy says.
“We knew that a good season for us would be staying up. That was all we wanted; to survive in the Premier Division.
“Some people might, even if we’re on a bad run at the moment, be saying that we’ve overachieved to get to where we are in the table, but we wouldn’t look at it like that.
[adrotate group=”50″]“We got to where we are by playing well. The last few weeks haven’t been as good, but we played well against Bohs.
“We need to get back to what we did in the second phase of games and basically be hard to beat. It’s back to needing to do the basics well.
Molloy was the Young Player of the Year at Derby County in 2002 before returning to the League of Ireland and Drogheda United.
Eleven years ago, in 2005, Stephen Kenny took Molloy to Derry City, where he won five League Cups and two FAI Cups during a memorable stint at Brandywell.
[adrotate group=”76″]Molloy joined Crusaders, but he left there in November and announced his retirement.
He did speak to Kenny Shiels about a possible Derry return, but that door closed – ‘for one reason or another’ Molloy shrugs – only for Ollie Horgan to open a white door down Navenny Street in Ballybofey instead.
Molloy says: “I had spoken to Ollie before and said that I was thinking of retirement.
“I had a change of mind and decided to give it a go. Obviously after announcing my retirement it probably shocked people. I had been saying to Ollie that I didn’t feel as if I could play at this level again, but he made me think otherwise.
[adrotate group=”43″]“I didn’t know much about this Harps squad, but I knew what kind of group it was.
“Ollie has instilled a lot of confidence, belief and perseverance in these boys. They never give up.
“Beating Derry on the first night was huge. We knew that Harps hadn’t beaten Derry in years and that was a massive incentive.
“In the second game against Derry, we looked dead and buried, but we stuck at it and got an equaliser.”
Molloy jarred his knee on the season’s opening night – during a game when Harps scored a 2-1 win for their first League win over their rivals since 1998 – and he returned to action just four days before the second instalment against his hometown club.
[adrotate group=”70″]Harps led through Ryan Curran, but Derry turned the tables to lead 2-1 in the dying moments, only for Sean Houston’s header to rescue a point.
“I hadn’t trained for two or three months when I signed for Harps,” says Molloy.
“I had about four days of training and went into the Derry game. After I got injured I thought it was like a sign that I shouldn’t have come back, but I think now my decision has been justified.
“It was strange to play Derry and be the opponent, but you get over that once you start the game and the stick starts to roll. You expect that bit of abuse and it’s just another match for me.”
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