NATHAN BOYLE IS REGARDED as a major injury concern for the first leg of Finn Harps’ promotion-relegation play-off against Limerick FC at the Markets Field on Monday.
The on-loan Derry City striker netted last night as Harps defeated UCD 2-1 in Ballybofey to claim a 3-1 aggregate win in the First Division play-off to tee up a two-legged joust with resurgent Limerick.
Boyle broke through in the 76th minute and, after good build-up by Kevin McHugh and Josh Mailey, slotted past UCD goalkeeper Conor O’Donnell.
Picture caption: Nathan Boyle beats UCD Conor O’Donnell for Finn Harps’ first goal last night. Picture courtesy of Stephen Doherty.
Boyle had not featured for Harps since scoring in a 3-0 win over UCD at the end of September, owing to the same hamstring problem that has now put his participation on Monday in severe doubt.
Boyle was replaced by Wilfried Tagbo late in the game after being deemed unable to continue when assessed on the pitch by Mickey McGlynn, the Harps physio.
“It looks like he won’t be available for Monday,” Harps manager Ollie Horgan conceded.
“We took a risk on him. He probably wasn’t 100 per cent fit. If we didn’t play him we could have been out of the competition.
“The pitch was very heavy. A lot of lads are struggling, but we’ll go down and prepare as well as possible. There are a lot of bumps and bruises.”
Raymond Foy and McHugh had also been nursing ailments going into last night’s game, but both are said to have come through a nervous encounter without further damage.
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