Finn Harps’ quest for a first win of the campaign goes on after a narrow home defeat at the hands of Cobh Ramblers, who won courtesy of a late disputed penalty that was dispatched by Cian Murphy.
Finn Harps 1 – 2 Cobh Ramblers
Patrick Ferry fired the home side into the lead with an early goal, but that was cancelled out as Barry Coffey capitalised on a loose ball in the area on the half hour.
By Stuart Connolly at Finn Park with pics by Joe Boland
Murphy converted the controversial penalty in the final ten minutes as Harps still sit with one point from their first five outings.
It was just a single change to the side that picked up the first point of the season against UCD, as Gavin McAteer stepped into the side in place of Anto Dodd.
Their counterparts remained unchanged after a comprehensive victory over Longford Town.
Finn Harps took an early lead via the right boot of Patrick Ferry as the forward latched onto a low cross into the box from Gavin Hodgins.
In the moments after that early strike, Barry Coffey had a close range effort blocked, while Dale Holland sliced one off target, but clear opportunities were absent at both ends.
That remained the case until just prior to the half hour when the visitors drew level. The quintessential scrappy goal, a corner was floated in from the left by Shane Griffin, and some pinball commenced in the six yard box before Barry Coffey was able to prod home.
After that equaliser, Cobh Ramblers had a slight edge, but other than the tireless efforts of Cian Murphy, who had a half chance with five minutes left, the remainder of the half went by without much action.
Cobh Ramblers kept that slight edge in terms of possession at the start of the second half, but it was Harps who had the first crack at goal as Conor Tourish attempted a spectacular overhead kick that floated just wide of the target.
Prior to that audacious effort, Gavin Hodgins connected with a McNamee set piece, but he didn’t get the purchase he needed to take it past Timothy Martin.
As the game began to open up in the final 20 minutes, Harps put Cobh under pressure and enjoyed a decent spell, but with a little under ten minutes left, Referee Marc Lynch controversially pointed to the spot as Cian Murphy went to ground after a surging run into the box. As the look of astonishment faded, but only slightly, Murphy stepped up and slotted the spot kick into the bottom right corner.
Harps went close to a leveller on more than one occasion as Gradi Lomboto dragged an effort wide, while Max Johnston forced a save out of Martin as the game approached stoppage time.
Finn Harps: David Aziaya; Mikey Place, Conor Tourish, Max Hutchison, Kevin Jordan; Joel Thompson, Tony McNamee, Gavin Hodgins, Gavin McAteer(Anto Dodd 68; Patrick Ferry(Max Johnston 82), Dara McGuinness(Gradi Lomboto 68).
Cobh Ramblers: Timothy Martin; John O’Donovan(Tiernan O’Brien 82), Jonas Häkkinen, Shane A. Griffin(Brendan Frahill 88), Cian Coleman; Niall O’Keeffe(Cian Bargary 63), Barry Coffey, Samuel Bellis(David Bosnjak 63), Dale Holland, Shane Griffin(Jason Abbott 88); Cian Murphy.
Referee: Marc Lynch.