Finn Harps put in a resilient display on Friday night and fell victim to the narrow margins of the beautiful game as Dundalk returned to Oriel Park with the three points.
Sean Keogh netted the only goal with an exquisite free kick from 20 yards as some spectators hadn’t yet found their spot.
By Stuart Connolly at Finn Park with pics by Joe Boland
The Lilywhites held that slender lead at the break but almost surrendered it on two occasions as Patrick Ferry hit the crossbar and Tourish had an effort cleared off the line.
Darren Murphy implemented two changes to the side that lost away in Mounthawk Park. William Oduwa, formerly of Slovakian outfit Slovan Tomášovce, was handed his full debut, while Kevin Jordan was also drafted in.
Vinnie Leonard popped up with the only goal for Dundalk last week, and former player turned manager, Ciaran Kilduff, stuck with the same side that defeated Athlone Town.
With less than two minutes gone, Mikey Place was penalised for a foul on Daryl Horgan on the edge of the box. Sean Keogh took responsibility and whipped a left-footed strike into the corner of the goal. This was his first senior goal after a handful of appearances last season.
The young left-back wasn’t afraid to venture forward and linked up well with Daryl Horgan on a number of occasions as the away side noticeably dominated the possession, but despite their relative control, the clear-cut chances were missing.
Harps weren’t having too much joy at the other end. Up to and including the half-hour mark, David Cawley had a couple of efforts, with one blocked and the other rolled wide.
Patrick Ferry’s close range header was comfortably gathered by Enda Minogue while Leo Gaxha also shot off target as the first half whistle sounded.
Into the second half, and it was the newly summoned Gavin McAteer, fresh from his Republic of Ireland Under-17 duty against Finland and Spain, who had a decent goalbound strike saved by Minogue.
The 23-year-old shot stopper was called upon again just moments later, this time to tip an effort from Ferry onto the crossbar.
The visitors also caused some panic at the other end as a floated ball into the box was on plate for Eoin Kenny, but he couldn’t keep his header down from less than six yards out.
Prior to that chance, Kenny had rolled the ball across the box for Horgan, but the alert Cooney was there to thwart the opportunity.
In the thick of the action beyond the hour mark, Kenny was involved again with a little under 20 minutes to go as he prodded home a low ball from Gaxha, however, the offside flag cut his celebration short.
As the game entered the final stages, Harps kept up their strong second half performance, and they almost grabbed a deserved equaliser as an attempt from Conor Tourish was cleared off the line by Aodh Dervin.
Into the dying embers, Harps pushed, but Dundalk’s defence held firm for a second consecutive clean sheet.
Finn Harps: Oisin Cooney; Mikey Place, Conor Tourish, William Oduwa(Gavin McAteer ht), Joel Thompson(Max Johnston 84); Max Hutchison, Kevin Jordan(Joel Bradley-Walsh 70), David Cawley(Anto Dodd 84), Tony McNamee, Patrick Ferry(Gradi Lomboto 70); Dara McGuinness.
Dundalk: Enda Minogue; Conor O’Keeffe, Sean Keogh, Mayowa Animasahun(Luke Mulligan 84), Vinnie Leonard; Aodh Dervin, Daryl Horgan, Harry Groome(Andy Paraschiv 82), Leo Gaxha(Norman Garbett 82; Eoin Kenny, Dean Ebbe(Sean McHale 59).
Referee: Declan Toland
