Under 21s Go Down In Sligo

May 14, 2006

Sligo Rovers…….2

Finn Harps………1

Sean Mc Gowan's Finn Harps Under 21s suffered a first defeat of the season as they went down by two goals to one against Sligo Rovers at the Showgrounds on Sunday afternoon.

Having only dropped two points thus far in their Group Two campaign, the young Harps entered into this contest against the Yeats County men as the bookies' favourites.

Both sides came into the clash on the back of differing results. Harps defeated Shelbourne on their last outing while Sligo suffered a massive 7-0 loss to Monaghan during the week.
However, Sligo fielded a much stronger side against Harps and although Harps enjoyed the better of the play in the first half, their second half performance was somewhat disappointing.

Having gone a goal down in the early exchanges of the first half, they got back on level terms through skipper Shaun Mc Gowan, who was particularly prominent throughout yet again.

The young Ballybofey man is set to jet off with the eircom League team next week has been fantastic to date and must certainly be close to a return to first team action in the near future.

With the scoreline tied at one apiece, Harps went in search of the elusive second, but it was Sligo who would grab the advantage for the second time.

When Gavin Cullen was beaten for a second time, the scoring for the evening concluded and Harps would come home empty handed for the first time this season.

However, the Finn Park residents are still highly fancied to take the top spot in Group Two and they will seal that position by taking victory over Dundalk in their final encounter.

One positive to come out of Sunday's game was a return to action for Chris Breen following a sickness.

Breen was introduced as a second half substitute for Danny Keohane and Harps supporters will be hoping for a quick return to first team action for the pacy front-man.

Best for Harps on Sunday were captain Shaun Mc Gowan – who again led by example – and Gary Crossan who will be hoping for a chance of first team action in the next week.

Finn Harps U21s: Gavin Cullen; Barney Lafferty, Matthew Crossan, Seamie Peoples, Keith Cowan; Gary Crossan, Sean Mc Gowan, Ryan Mc Gavigan, Danny Keohane; Darren Meenan, Johnny Gallagher. Subs: Art O Connor (Gallagher); Chris Breen (Keohane).