Finn Harps will keep battling for their Premier Division survival despite the team’s worst run of form since returning to the top flight at the beginning of March.
A little bit of luck is needed also as Ollie Horgan and Paul Hegarty put the final preparations in place for Saturday night’s North West derby against Sligo Rovers at the Showgrounds (kick-off 7.45).
And not surprisingly Horgan expects the short away trip to be a very difficult assignment for a team that is struggling badly at the moment. The hosts will go into the game as favourites following a good run of results since the mid-season break.
However, Harps do have a very good record against them this year drawing at the Showgrounds in March and recording a very important 3-0 win over their neighbours in Finn Park at the beginning of June.
However, on the back of five defeats Horgan men’s are short on confidence and have not scored in the Premier Division since Friday 8 th of July when Sean Houston found the back of the net in the 1-0 win over Galway United in Ballybofey.
Horgan will obviously be looking at options to address the lack of goals but it can only be done from within the current squad, which is quite a challenge. The manager could look at restoring strikers Dave Scully, if fit, and Ryan Curran to the starting 11 and the return of Adam Hanlon in the middle of the park is an option while Josh Mailey would certainly be in contention to come back into the side.
“Sligo have improved as the season progressed and are one of the form teams in the league at the moment. They had an away win in Cork which is very rare. They have great movement and play attractive football with some very talented and quick players. It’s going to be another difficult game away for us.” Horgan said.
Damian McNulty (knee) is the only definite absentee. He scored the cracking volley that gave Harps the 1-1 draw at the Showgrounds back in March. Both Barry Molloy and Dave Scully are both carrying knocks so a decision on their fitness will not be made until nearer match time.
Harps biggest win of the season came against Sligo in early June in Ballybofey where Sean Houston scored twice either side of a goal from Ryan Curran. Manager Dave Robertson will have to plan without veteran Raphael Cretaro and Craig Roddan who are both suspended. Still it’s the hosts who will be expected to take the three points from this North West derby.
Team news
Suspended: None
Doubtful: Dave Scully, Barry Molloy.
Injured: Damian McNulty
Record against Sligo Rovers (All competitions)
Saturday’s game will be the 114th meeting of the two clubs
Total Games: 112 (62 at Showgrounds)
Harps Wins: 46 (19 at Showgrounds)
Rovers Wins: 38 (18 at Showgrounds)
Draws: 29 (15 at Showgrounds)
Harps Goals: 182 (79 at Showgrounds)
Rovers Goals: 160 (81 at Showgrounds)
Last 10 games vs. Sligo Rovers
31-May- 05 Sligo Rovers 1-0 Finn Harps (League Cup)
09-May- 06 Sligo Rovers 1-1 Finn Harps (League Cup)
07-May- 07 Finn Harps 3-2 Sligo Rovers (League Cup)
25-Apr- 08 Finn Harps 0-1 Sligo Rovers (Premier Division)
19-Jul- 08 Sligo Rovers 4-1 Finn Harps (Premier Division)
17-Oct- 08 Finn Harps 0-2 Sligo Rovers (Premier Division)
04-May- 09 Sligo Rovers 4-1 Finn Harps (League Cup)
27-Aug- 10 Finn Harps 0-1 Sligo Rovers (FAI Cup)
20-Mar- 16 Sligo Rovers 1-1 Finn Harps (Premier Division)
03-Jun-16 Finn Harps 3-0 Sligo Rovers (Premier Division)
Finn Harp’s last meeting with Sligo Rovers
3 rd June 2016: Finn Park. SSE Airtricity Premier Division.
Finn Harps: 3 Sean Houston 15, 66; Ryan Curran 48
Sligo Rovers: 0
Finn Harps – Richard Brush; Ethan Boyle, Keith Cowan, Packie Mailey, Ciaran Coll; Gareth Harkin (Josh Mailey, 82), Sean Houston, Thomas McMonagle, Adam Hanlon (Michael Funston, 88); Dave Scully (Kevin McHugh, 75), Ryan Curran.
Subs not used: Ciaran Gallagher, Raymond Foy, Tony McNamee, Liam Flatley. Booked: Dave Scully (57), Packie Mailey (63). Sligo Rovers – Micheal Schlingermann; Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, Regan Donelon, Michael Leahy, John Russell (Jordan Richards, 65); Craig Roddan, Raffaele Cretaro (Philip Roberts, 87), Jimmy Keohane, Liam Martin; Kieran Sadlier (Jaanai Gordon, 87), Gary Boylan.
Subs not used – Ciaran Nugent, Gary Armstrong, Mikey Place, Chris Lyons. Booked: Mick Leahy (40), Rafaele Cretaro (63), Liam Martin (72). Referee: Robert Harvey.
Finn Harps Results 2016
Fri 04-Mar Finn Harps 2-1 Derry City
Fri 11-Mar Dundalk 3–0 Finn Harps
Mon 14-Mar Finn Harps 0-1 Shamrock Rovers
Sat 19-Mar Sligo Rovers 1-1 Finn Harps
Tue 22-Mar Finn Harps 1-0 Cockhill Celtic (League Cup)
Sat 26-Mar Finn Harps 1-0 Longford Town
Fri 08-Apr Galway United 1-0 Finn Harps
Mon 11-Apr Finn Harps 1-2 St. Patrick’s Athletic
Fri 15-Apr Finn Harps 1-0 Bray Wanderers
Mon 18-Apr Galway United 0-0 Finn Harps (League Cup) – Galway won 4-2 on pens.
Fri 22-Apr Cork City 3-1 Finn Harps
Fri 29-Apr Wexford Youths 1-1 Finn Harps
Fri 06-May Finn Harps 0-0 Bohemians
Tue 10-May Derry City 2–2 Finn Harps
Fri 13-May Finn Harps 0-7 Dundalk
Tue 20-May St. Patrick’s Athletic 4-0 Finn Harps
Sat 21 May Finn Harps 0-1 Crumlin United (FAI Cup)
Sun 29-May Shamrock Rovers 1-1 Finn Harps
Fri 03-Jun Finn Harps 3-0 Sligo Rovers
Sat 25-Jun Longford Town 2-0 Finn Harps
Fri 08-Jul Finn Harps 1-0 Galway United
Sat 16-Jul Bray Wanderers 1-0 Finn Harps
Fri 29-Jul Finn Harps 0-1 Wexford Youths
Fri 05-Aug Bohemians 2-0 Finn Harps
Fri 12-Aug Finn Harps 0-5 Derry City
Fri 26-Aug Finn Harps 0-2 Shamrock Rovers
Finn Harps Remaining Fixtures 2016
Sat 03-Sep Sligo Rovers (a)
Fri 16-Sep Longford Town (h)
Mon 19-Sep Cork City (h)
Fri 23-Sep St. Patrick’s Athletic (h)
Fri 30-Sep Galway United (a)
Fri 07-Oct Bray Wanderers (h)
Fri 14-Oct Cork City (a)
Fri 21-Oct Wexford Youths (a)
Fri 28-Oct Bohemians (h)
Compiled by Declan Kerr.
