KEVIN MCHUGH HAS rarely tasted a week so chastening as this one.
After the highs of the dramatic 2-2 derby draw against Derry City last Tuesday, Harps shuddered and slumped all in the one night with a 7-0 beating by Dundalk on Friday night.
It was a record-breaking night by the Finn, but an unwanted one. Never before had a Harps team lost by such a margin in League football.
By half-time, Dundalk were four up and Ollie Horgan’s mind was already panned forward to Tuesday’s game at St Patrick’s Athletic, but that one ended in a 4-0 loss at Richmond Park.
[adrotate group=”43″]“Confidence is brittle to say the least,” says club captain Kevin McHugh ahead of an FAI Senior Cup tie aginst Crumlin United on Saturday night in Ballybofey.
“We all knew that Ollie said at the start of the season that we could take a few hidings, but none of us saw the last week coming.
“It’ll be good now to get a break from the League and to get into Cup action. We’re coming in on a low and they’re coming into it on a high so it might level up the playing field a bit.”
[adrotate group=”50″]McHugh came on at 5-0 down against Dundalk and two in arrears at Pat’s when he was sent into the fray.
To have shipped 13 goals in three outings now has shook Harps.
“A lot of boys in that dressing room are very mentally strong,” says McHugh.
“They won’t and the management won’t let us take our eyes off the ball. We know exactly what we’re like here and we know exactly what we need to do in the next few weeks.”
McHugh has been in Harps dressing rooms before during low ebbs, having twice been relegated from the Premier Division as a player at the club.
The Killea man says: “These are the times that can be the real makings of players.
“I was in teams that went through bad times around 2001 and 2002. It’s tough when you go and get thumped 5-0 and you know it could easily be 10.
“Those nights and those days aren’t easy by any means. They hurt for weeks, but they do make you mentally stronger.
“That is something that Ollie is always preaching to us – the importance of mental strength.”
McHugh was in the commentary box at Aviva Stadium last Saturday night and saw first hand how good Crumlin United are.
[adrotate group=”38″]A hat-trick from Gregory Moorehouse and goals from Alan McGreal and Dean Hurley saw Crumlin win their second FAI Intermediate Cup in a row as they hammered Letterkenny Rovers 5-0.
“Crumlin could definitely compete in the First Division,” McHugh says.
“If they really wanted to they could step up, no bother at all. Letterkenny didn’t play to their potential, but look Crumlin are the best Intermediate side in the country.
“I was really impressed with them last weekend.”
In June 2010, Harps last played Crumlin, with McHugh scoring twice in a 3-0 win (Packie Mailey scored the other Harps goal).
After a punishing schedule that has seen Harps play five games in 19 days, the cup brings a welcomed distraction.
McHugh says: “We want to progress to the next round of the Cup, no question about that.
[adrotate group=”51″]“Obviously surviving in the League is what the season is all about, but it’s always nice to get into the next round of the Cup and we won’t be taking this weekend lightly.
“We’ve a home draw and it’s a chance for us to get back to winning ways again.
“We had got the season off to a good start and people thought then that we’d do well so we need to start fighting for points and wins again.
“A few things, like injuries and the schedule, just hit us at the wrong time. The Dundalk one was a freak. Will Dundalk beat teams again five, six or seven-nil? Probably. Will we lose seven-nil again? I don’t think so.
“I think last week wasn’t a once-off for Dundalk, but it was for us.”
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