Ollie Horgan disappointed as Finn Harps lose by ‘narrow margins’ in Galway

THE ONE GENUINE moment of quality from either side proved to be the winner on Friday night.

Finn Harps battled gamely at Galway United in their first fixture at Terryland Park – now Eamonn Deacy Park – in seven seasons, creating a few chances themselves but not working goalkeeper Conor Winn enough.

Photo caption: Dave Scully of Finn Harps holds up possession for his side in their 1-0 loss at Eamonn Deacy Park against Galway United on Friday night. Photo: Gary Foy, newsandsportfiles

Just before the hour-mark, it was a cross from Kevin Devaney and a tap-in for Vinny Faherty. That’s all it took. Galway left with the points and Harps with nothing.

“The first goal – if there was going to be a first goal – was going to be vital and I felt we had two half chances,” Harps manager Ollie Horgan said. “If we had gone ahead it would have been different game.

“There was a bit of quality about the Galway goal with Kevin Devaney crossing for Vinny Faherty and fair play to them. “They were narrow margins – not a whole lot in it – but we will take our oil and move on.

“Ryan Curran had a number of chances; Tony McNamee had a penalty claim. We’re not complaining, but it was a game of very fine margins and unfortunately we fell just short of that.”

It was a little like the Shamrock Rovers game last month where Harps fans felt they just might’ve deserved a point, perhaps a 0-0 was warranted when the 1-1 wouldn’t have been.

It’s a school of hard knocks for the Ballybofey side, who still have a credible seven points from six outings this term.

“We probably lost a point tonight, but we didn’t lose three points,” Horgan added. “Probably the most we deserved out of that was a point.

“So be it. Sometimes when you get well beaten like we were in Dundalk, it’s easier to take than very fine margins.

“We need to improve. We have a very quick turnaround to Monday night and we move on, that’s the nature of it. “We had about four decent chances. We had two or three half-chances from throw-ins. Had we got one of them and went 1-0 up, then Galway might have been in the situation that we were.

“Possibly we lacked that quality to go and break them down. We had a great chance when Ryan Curran slipped in after a poor back pass but it went the wrong side of the post.

Horgan has constantly called the top-flight a ‘savage’ league and it gets that little bit more savage when the fixtures start to pile up. Tomorrow, Harps take on St Patrick’s Athletic at Finn Park in a rearranged fixture from nine nights’ ago that was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

“You’re playing a serious side on Monday night,” Horgan said.

“Don’t get me wrong, Galway are a fine side, but Pat’s are probably in the top four in the league, and rightly so, with the quality that they have.

“Galway have quality, but Pat’s are the type of team that could beat you heavily if you weren’t on your game. The gap between us and Galway mightn’t be as big s between us and Pat’s and we’ll have to try and narrow that gap on Monday night.

“It’s relentless. You don’t get a chance to enjoy a draw or a victory, or to be disappointed too long. All that is on our minds now is Pat’s on Monday night and after that you’re looking at Bray.

“It’s relentless and it is hard going for the players, there’s no doubt about that. We’re a part-time side, but it’s great to be there, but we do need to improve to try and stay here.”