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Details

Date Time League Season
30 September 2022 8:00 pm LOI Men's Premier Division 2022

Match Report

Finn Harps drop more points at home as Shelbourne come back to draw

Finn Harps hopes of staying in the Premier Division have taken another hit, as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Shelbourne in Ballybofey.

Stephen Negru’s second-half header rescued a point for the Dubliners after Conor Tourish sent the home support into raptures with a header just minutes earlier.

The result, while not favourable, just take Harps off the bottom of the table, with UCD losing to Bohemians this evening. Certainly will be left sweating over results in the coming weeks.

It was a tight opening half in Ballybofey with very little in terms of action coming off scoring chances, two cards, two injuries and a lot of possession by the visitors. The best attempt at goal came from Dan Carr on as a sub, he connected well with Shane Farrell’s pass, skipped past on the onrushing James McKeown but Gary Boylan was there to clear.

Shels had some wayward chances but failed to really test the Harps goal, while Harps were praying for something to work their way. Going in level at the break, the point was enough to take them off the bottom.

Goals would come in the second half, a short corner routine from Boylan, found Barry McNamee in acres to cross into the area, where Conor Tourish was on hand to head home into the net. Que the wild scenes in Finn Park after 53 minutes played.

The lead was short-lived five minutes later a corner on the right-hand side, met the head of Stephen Negru on his first start for Shelbourne, McKeown could do little in the goal to parry away the effort, looked saveable as the header had little in the way of power.

After the goal Harps did have plenty of chances to retake the lead, the best forcing Brendan Clarke into an acrobatic save to deny Robert Jones, with a powerful header looking to nestle into the top corner.

McNamee hit a volley shortly after but it flew wide, former Harps man Sean Boyd almost looked to have snatched the winner not once but twice, his first effort hit the side netting, the second was saved well by the leg of McKeown.

Finn Harps

25James McKeown Goalkeeper
2Conor Tourish 15 Defender 53'
3Regan Donelon Defender
4Rob Slevin Defender
6Ryan Connolly Midfielder
7Gary Boylan Defender 83'
8Eric McWoods 33 Forward
11Barry McNamee Midfielder
23Liam McGing Defender
24Ethan Boyle Defender
32Jaime Siaj 18 Forward
99Gavin Mulreany Goalkeeper
10Mark Timlin Midfielder
12Luke Rudden Forward
14Adam McCaffrey Midfielder
15Jose Carrillo 2 Defender
16Harry Nicolson Defender
18Robert Jones 32 Forward
33Filip Mihaljevic 8 Forward
56Dylan Duncan Midfielder

Shelbourne

1Brendan Clarke Goalkeeper
2John Ross Wilson Defender
5Shane Griffin 32 Defender 38'
8Josh Giurgi 9 Defender
15Matty Smith Forward 55'
16Aodh Dervin 6 Midfielder
17Shane Farrell Forward
21Gavin Molloy Midfielder
22Gavin Hodgins 14 Midfielder
23Luke Byrne Defender
28Stephen Negru Defender 58'
40Scott Van Der Sluis Goalkeeper
4Aaron O’Driscoll Defender
6JJ Lunney 16 Midfielder
8Mark Coyle Midfielder
9Sean Boyd 8 Forward
14Daniel Carr 22 Forward 39'
32Kameron Ledwidge 5 Defender
33Gbemi Arubi Forward
  • 93'

    All over in Ballybofey, Harp's take a point having lead 1-0 it takes them above UCD but will not be their ideal result this evening

  • 90'

    Boyd comes close again but McKeown gets the foot out well to save, three minutes added on here

  • 83'

    Boylan the latest name added to the notebook

  • 79'

    Boyd comes close but hits the side netting after coming on

  • 78'

    Changes for both teams as Sean Boyd replaces Giurgi for Shels, while Tourish looks to have another knock and goes off, with Jose Carillo in to replace him

  • 77'

    McNamee tries a volley, but it goes wide

  • 76'

    Brendan Clarke with the acrobatics to save a header from Jones, looked to be going into the top corner

  • 74'

    Harps make a change as Robert Jones replaces Siaj

  • 71'

    Tourish the goal scorer gets a yellow card for his troubles

  • 63'

    Double sub for Shels with Kameron Ledwidge and JJ Lunney in for Griffin and Dervin

  • 63'

    Filip Mihaljevic pulls down Gavin Molloy and gets a booking

  • 58'

    Stephen Negru on his first league start has Shels level as he heads home from a corner

  • 56'

    Smith comes close as he receives the ball in the area, Mckeown was in no mans land but his effort goes wide

  • 55'

    Third yellow of the night for Shels with Matty Smith carded

  • 53'

    DEADLOCK BROKEN, FINN PARK ERRUPTS, Conor Tourish nods home a Barry Mcnamee cross after Boylan takes a short corner

  • 48'

    Half Time in Ballybofey, neither side really tested the other in that half, Shels coming the closest to scoring, 71% possession for them at the break

  • 45'

    Three minutes of added time to end the half

  • 40'

    Carr breaks into the area and looks to have a shooting chance, gets past James McKeown but Gary Boylan is there to clear

  • 39'

    Two yellows in less than 60 seconds for Shels Shane Griffin and Dan Carr are booked

  • 28'

    Injury worry for Gavin Hodgins as the debutant is forced off, Daniel Carr is on

  • 24'

    Tackles, Injuries and little chances is the story so far, Shels on top goal chances are few

  • 14'

    Filip Mihaljevic comes in as Eric McWoods pulls up and hobbles off

  • 10'

    Ten minutes in and it's fairly nip and tuck, neither looking like creating chances, plenty of possession patience seems key at the moment

  • 1'

    Shels kick us off, rain looks to be holding off

  • Five minutes to kick off, the weather is not typical Donegal but could get worse

  • Stephen Negru makes his first start in the league for Shelbourne, Gavin Hodgins will make his full debut for the Dubliners, Duffers men looking to spoil the party in Finn Park this evening

  • Harps welcome back Tourish, Connolly and McGing to their starting 11 with the hope of getting a win

  • A big night in Finn Park as Finn Harps are trying to keep one foot out of the grave and remain in the Division next season, points needed for sure against Shelbourne, my name is Diarmuid Kearney and I will update all the action this evening

Past Meetings

(Round 23)
3 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tolka Park

Shelbourne v Finn Harps

(Round 13)
1 - 0
LOI Men's Premier Division
Finn Park

Finn Harps v Shelbourne

(Round 7)
0 - 3
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tolka Park

Shelbourne v Finn Harps

5 - 4
eLOI Group D
Online Event

Shelbourne v Finn Harps

(Series 12)
1 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Tolka Park

Shelbourne v Finn Harps

(Series 3)
0 - 1
LOI Men's Premier Division
Finn Park

Finn Harps v Shelbourne

Ground

Finn Park
Finn Park, Navenny Street, Stranorlar Electoral Division, Lifford-Stranorlar Municipal District, County Donegal, F93 Y27K, Ireland

Diarmuid Kearney is a freelance Sports Journalist based in Co Kerry. He has more than 5 years experience covering domestic and international soccer for different media organisations, while also working for local and national print and digital organisations covering GAA.