Rhys McCabe bagged a dramatic injury-time winner for Sligo Rovers as Finn Harps slipped back into the relegation zone tonight.
Finn Harps 1 Sligo Rovers 2
A piece of magic from the wand of Paddy McCourt eight minutes from the end looked to have earned Harps what would have been a precious point.
But Sligo, just as the game clock entered its 91st minute, pounced for a heart-stopping winner.
Vinny Faherty – who netted the Sligo opener in the first half – flicked on for McCabe, whose low effort from the edge of the box reached the bottom corner to plunge Harps back into the bottom three.
The story was set up to be about the genius of McCourt when the Northern Ireland international lit up the night in the 82nd minute.
McCourt left a trail of Sligo men in his wake before delicately slipping past Shaun Patton for a goal that seemed to be enough to clinch a point. It was vintage McCourt, but it proved a false dawn and soon the visiting hoards in the 1,743 attendance were over the perimeter and toasting what could be a key win in the race for top flight survival.
The lead goal had arrived in the 16th minute as Faherty – so often a thorn in Harps’ sides over the years – reached to steer a perfect header beyond Harps ‘keeper Ciaran Gallagher.
Gary Boylan’s nifty change of feet for a pin-point cross to Faherty off his left peg made a goal that came against the run of play.
It has been Sligo’s first purposeful venture into Harps territory after a decent and lively opening by the hosts, but it was the hundreds of visiting supporters who found their voice when Faherty broke the deadlock.
But it wasn’t in keeping with how the evening had begun.
Harps forced three corners in succession after Ramelton’s Kyle Callan-McFadden intercepted Eddie Dsane’s run as he attempted to get on the end of a searching ball down the left channel by McCourt.
In the early moments, with Harps having a series of set-plays in dangerous areas, a bright move involving McCourt, Dsane and Timlin sparked the home crowd to life, but they were rocked back on their heels when Faherty prised the door ajar for Sligo.
Harps were without the suspended Kilian Cantwell, sent off in the 2-0 win at Limerick a fortnight ago, but were given a huge boost with the availability of Caolan McAleer, back from his own ban, while McCourt again overcame fitness fears to take up his sentry in the engine room.
Before their win at the Markets Field, Harps had lost the previous three outings in the League.
They weren’t far off an equaliser in the 34th minute when Mark Timlin found room where there was none to invite a shot from Sean Houston, whose low effort whizzed just wide.
As the first half drew to an end, though, Harps were relieved to see the break. Ethan Boyle almost put through his own goal from a dangerous Sligo corner just after Gallagher’s legs denied Daniel Kearns.
Dsane tried his luck from distance, but arrowed his shot off target ten minutes into the second half and, for all their possession, Harps struggled in the final third.
McCourt rolled back the years as he weaved his way straight into the penalty area from near half-way, but Seamus Sharkey stepped in with a timely intervention to keep the ex-Celtic ace at bay.
Sharkey was one of three former Harps men in the away side with Shaun Patton and Regan Donelon included with Donegal Town’s Jack Keaney replaced the injured Greg Moorhouse at half-time for only his second League appearance for Sligo.
Patton beat away a drive from McAleer after Timlin worked the chance and the Letterkenny man parried from Dsane in the final ten minutes when McCourt struck only for Harps to be undone at the death.
Finn Harps: Ciaran Gallagher; Ethan Boyle, Damien McNulty, Ciaran Coll, Gareth Harkin (Jonny Bonner 73); Caolan McAleer, Paddy McCourt, Tommy McBride (Danny Morrissey 57), Mark Timlin; Shaun Houston; Eddie Dsane (Ibrahim Keita 85).
Sligo Rovers: Shaun Patton; Gary Boylan, Seamus Sharkey, Callan-McFadden, Regan Donelon; Jamie McDonagh (Benny Igiehon 73), Christopher Kenny, Rhys McCabe, Daniel Kearns (Omar Houghton 89); Greg Moorhouse (Jack Keaney half-time), Vinny Faherty.
Referee: Tomas Connolly (Dublin).
