A penalty in the 49th minute by Treaty Utd’s Enda Curran was all that separated the teams.
Treaty Utd 1
Finn Harps 0
But it meant another narrow defeat for Finn Harps and more ground lost on the teams ahead of them in the race for a play-off spot.
After back to back defeats against Cork City in League and Cup, it was another long trip to meet Treaty FC at the Market’s Field in Limerick. Despite a recent run of poor results, Harps were still holding down a playoff spot and a win here would be a big boost.
Defensively Darren Murphy’s team have been solid, but a lack of goals has proved costly when it comes to recent results.
Dave Cawley, Luke O Brien, Sean Patton and Gavin Gilmore came into the starting line-up as the manager shuffled the pack in search of goals.
However it was the home team that looked the more likely to hit the net as they dominated the early stages and it was only the form of Harps keeper that kept the game scoreless in the opening half-hour of action. Stephen Christopher’s low cross was blocked in the 10th minute and Harps somehow survived eight minutes later as two shots were blocked on the goal line with Treaty players claiming they had crossed the line without success.
In the 21st minute Tim Heimer somehow denied Enda Curran with a Brillant triple save and Lee Devitt Molloy headed the rebound over the bar. Both Christopher and Molloy had good chances but failed to hit the target as Harps held on but the question was ‘for how long’. Hiemer’s saves and Treaty’s failure to convert even one of their chances meant it remained scoreless at the break.
That situation changed quickly as the home side were awarded a penalty in the 49th minute. It was awarded following a Matthew Makinson foul and Enda Curran hammered the spot-kick past Hiemer and Treaty FC led 1-0.
Two minutes later Curran’s glancing header flashed just wide as Treaty pushed for second. Mark Byrne went close in the 59th minute, shooting just wide but two minutes in a rare Harps attack home keeper Corey Chambers denied Harps with a super save to deny the visitors an equaliser.
Harps responded with three changes, Ryan Rainey, Patrick Ferry and Stephen Doherty coming on. They freshened things up and Harps pushed hard to get something to take home and only good defending by Molloy denied them a chance in the 77th minute. In the final stages it was Harps who looked the more likely to score, but that inability to turn chances into goals continued and resulted in yet another 1-0 defeat.
In tonight’s other games there were wins for league leaders Cork City, Athlone Town, and Bray Wanderers who Harps host next Friday night at Finn Park.
Treaty FC ; Corey Chambers , Robbie Lynch, Evan O Conner , Ben O Riordan , Finn Doherty , Stephen Healy , Lee Devitt Molloy , Mark Byrne , Stephen Christopher ( Thomas Considine 80mins) , Lee Lynch , Enda Curran ( Yoyo Mahdy (72mins).
Finn Harps: Tim Hiemer; Jamie Watson, Conor Tourish , Matthew Makinson, Luke O Brien (Patrick Ferry 55mins), , Gavin Gilmore ( Ryan Rainey 55mins), Success Edogun ( Aaron McLaughlin 80mins), Dave Cawley ( Max Hutchison 80mins) , Sean Patton , Tony McNamee, Gavin McAteer (Stephen Doherty 55mins).
