Dundalk 1 - 3 Finn Harps

May 4, 2006

Chris McNulty reports from Oriel Park

Harps' young guns were to thank for this win and indeed all three scorers for the Finn-siders on Thursday night were under the age of 20.

Entering into this clash, one saw a certain degree of disparity in the form of Harps and Dundalk.
John Gill's Lillywhites were going into the tie on the back of four successive wins, while Harps' only win since their opening win in Kildare came against Galway United in the League Cup, via a penalty shoot-out.

Anthony Gorman opted to stick with the same side as the one which had performed well in the scoreless draw against Shamrock Rovers last Saturday, but he was forced to make one alteration as star-man Chris Breen was forced to sit at home due to a bout of food-poisoning.

This meant that Davitt Walsh would be again thrust into the starting line up. Elsewhere, James Gallagher kept his place between the sticks, while Chris Malseed retained the central midfield berth alongside Michael Funston, in place of the player-boss.

John Gill, meanwhile, started with the same Dundalk side as that which came away from Hogan Park in Limerick with a fine 3-2 win on their last excursion.

After a keenly contested opening few minutes, it was the visitors who grabbed the initiative in the twelfth minute.

James Gallagher

A corner from the left was floated into danger territory by Barry Curran. Shane Bradley saw his headed cleared by right back Niall Hudson, but his clearance fell only to Davitt Walsh.

From ten yards, Walsh had time to take control and shoot home to the bottom corner after taking an age to cross the line. This was the young Fanad man's first goal in a Harps shirt since his arrival from Derry City during the closed season.

The teenager showed just what the goal meant to him with a dart straight to the bench and a celebratory salute to the travelling contingent following the goal.
After this, Harps threatened for number two, but at half time Walsh's goal would be all that would separate the sides.
Despite all their endeavours they couldn't find the elusive second breakthrough. Walsh opted for goal when a pass to Minnock seemed the better option.

Bradley and Curran also had chances, but one-nil it was to remain at the break.

It wasn't all one way traffic in the first period, with Dundalk also having a number of chances. The best of which fell to striker Philip Hughes, whose first time strike was superbly beaten away by James Gallagher in the Harps goal.

Anthony Gorman was forced into making a change at half-time with Barry Curran feeling the worse for wear with flu making way for Gary Crossan.

Six minutes into the second half, Harps grabbed number two. A fine attacking move culminated in Davitt Walsh teeing up Chris Malseed, with the Letterkenny man making no mistake from the edge of the area.

After 63 minutes, Harps hit number three to spark off huge celebration from the small, but vocal, band of the Harps faithful in the main stand.

Jonathan Minnock's teasing cross from the left found its way to the back post, where Marc Mokendi stole in to get a knee to the ball to seal the win for Harps.

Dundalk pulled a goal back on 69 minutes when Simon Kelly prodded home after James Gallagher made a superb save, turning Marney's effort onto the bar.

Dundalk pressed and pressed for further rewards but they would find no way past the resilient Harps defence who held firm, and in injury time when the hosts did find a gap, James Gallagher was in fine form and made a superb stop.

This was a massive win for Harps against in-form Dundalk, who had won four in a row.

The hope now is that Harps can build on this and hopefully get a few more victories under the belt in the coming weeks to propel them back into contention.

Alan Hansen once said "you can't win a league with kids in the side" – go prove him wrong Harps!

Dundalk: Neil Gallagher; Niall Hudson, Simon Kelly, Derek Griffen, Robert Mc Auley; David Hoey (Brian Kelly 57), Robbie Dunne, John Flanagan (Sean Finn h/t), Paul Marney; Philip Hughes, Peter Hynes (Colm Kierans 67).

Finn Harps: James Gallagher; Eloka Asokhu, Jonathan Minnock, Marc Mokendi (Sean Mc Gowan 92), Shane Bradley; Michael Funston, Barry Curran (Gary Crossan h/t), David Bell, Chris Malseed; Davitt Walsh, Stephen O Donnell (Anthony Gorman 73).

Referee: Padraig Sutton

Finn Harps Dot Com Man Of The Match:

Shane Bradley – A tower of strength at the heart of the defence, "Rita" was an inspiration for his side. Won everything that was thrown his way and steadied the ship during times of concern.

James Gallagher made several outstanding saves throughout while Stephen O Donnell also produced a commendable performance and both these were close in the running for the Man of the Match award.