Ollie Horgan felt that the big game pressure got to Finn Harps last night.
Horgan’s Harps suffered a potentially damaging 3-1 home loss to Galway United at Finn Park, in what had been billed as a relegation six-pointer.
Picture caption: Eddie Dsane heads home the Finn Harps goal against Galway. Picture by North West News Pix
Harps had to play most of the second half with ten men after Paddy McCourt’s sending off, with Galway taking victory thanks to Ronan Murray’s late brace.
“Often when expectation is high, lads go into their shell and don’t perform,” Horgan said.
“Last week, when there was very little expectation, they performed.
“That’s pressure. We didn’t have enough lads playing well enough to merit beating Galway.
“We weren’t good enough. Galway ran out deserving winners. We can make excuses, but Galway were deserving winners. We were hanging on with ten men for 20 minutes, but they deserved to win it.
“From the sending off on, we didn’t show enough. We didn’t put it up to Galway, albeit when we were numerically short.”
Defeat now leaves Harps with just two points to spare on Galway – indeed just six points separate seventh from 11th in the table.
Horgan added: “We have no complaints. We didn’t deserve anything out of the game – and that’s what we got.
“Overall they were the better team and were worthy winners. It’s not a good night for us, but we have to move on from it.”
Listen to the full interview below …