Patrick Ferry bagged his second goal of the season to rescue a point for Finn Harps against Athlone Town this evening.
Finn Harps…1 Athlone Town…1
By Stuart Connolly at Finn Park
Gideon Tetteh’s 70th minute strike separated the sides and looked likely to be enough for a seventh win in ten for Athlone, but Gavin McAteer’s assist for Ferry late on denied the away side.
Finn Harps remain in fourth place, with 29 points on the board, while Athlone Town sit one spot and two points above them.
With two games in the space of four days, changes were inevitable after the victory over Wexford FC on Friday night. Aaron McLaughlin, Patrick Ferry, and Ryan Rainey stepped into the starting eleven, while a goalkeeper swap was also made as former Borussia Moenchengladbach netminder Tim-Oliver Heimer replaced Conor Walsh.
Cork City lost for the first time this season, and it was Dario Castelo’s Athlone side that inflicted that defeat. One notable omission from their team was El Salvador International German Fuentes, while Oisin Duffy, Daniel McKenna, and Shane Forbes were on the pitch from the start in the three changes.
Athlone Town hadn’t tasted defeat in their last nine fixtures, and that run started with a win over Finn Harps courtesy of a strike from Dean Ebbe back in April. Athlone were the first to have a proper crack at goal with ten minutes gone on the clock. Jamar Campion-Hinds launched the ball in from the left side, and it fell invitingly for Daniel McKenna at the back post as Tim-Oliver Heimer pulled off a spectacular save to deny him from point-blank range. Noah van Geenan was floating around the area and looked to rifle in the rebound, but Harps cleared their lines.
For Harps, chances were slim, as the final pass was often cut out by the Athlone rearguard or over-hit and safely into the grasp of Enda Minogue.
Athlone’s threat continued, and the first half turned into a highlights reel for Tim-Oliver Heimer, who didn’t fancy picking up the ball from inside his net.
With just over half an hour gone, Dylan Hand towered above them all in the box to head towards goal, but a strong one-handed save from the German goalkeeper kept Athlone at bay.
Into the second half, and the gloves of Heimer made another appearance, this time to save his teammate from an unfortunate own goal. Amardo Akeem Oakley whipped in the ball from the right, and a ricochet off of Matthew Makinson took the ball towards goal, with Heimer making a big instinctive save.
At the other end, Harps began to find some rhythm as Sean O’Donnell fired one over from a distance, and Patrick Ferry was desperately unlucky as his headed effort clipped the top of the woodwork.
Both sides introduced a forward off the bench prior to the hour, and it was Divine Izekor who had the desired impact for Athlone Town. From just inside the area, his solo run beyond Luke O’Brien enabled him to play the ball across from the right, and Gideon Tetteh’s first touch allowed him the space to shoot into the bottom left corner beyond the reach of Heimer.
Harps had a chance to respond quickly, but it was rushed as Patrick Ferry sliced wide, while the game could have been out of reach with a quarter of an hour to go as Dean Ebbe blasted over the bar from close range.
Ebbe missed that opportunity for his tenth goal of the campaign, but he popped up at the other end to save his side moments later. Jamie Watson’s header was destined for the back of the net until a late-headed clearance from Athlone’s top goal scorer.
With just stoppage time left, Harps’ late pressure paid off as they found their equaliser. Gavin McAteer floated the ball in from the right, and Patrick Ferry was able to head home from close range. Ferry had one last attempt to complete a dramatic turnaround, but his shot was well closed down by the onrushing Minogue.
Finn Harps: Tim-Oliver Heimer; Jamie Watson, Matthew Makinson, Noe Baba, Luke O’Brien; Ryan Rainey, David Cawley(Max Johnston 82), Tony McNamee; Aaron McLaughlin(Success Edogun 60), Patrick Ferry, Sean O’Donnell(Gavin McAteer 82)
Athlone Town: Enda Minogue; Brian Torre, Daniel McKenna, Dylan Hand, Amardo Akeem Oakley, Noah van Geenan; Gideon Tetteh(Roscoe Rubinstein 90), Shane Forbes(Divine Izekor 55), Jamar Campion-Hinds, Oisin Duffy; Dean Ebbe.
Referee: Daryl Carolan