Horgan laments difficulty in finding new players

Finn Harps boss Ollie Horgan admits his side's first game of the new First Division campaign can't come quick enough after finding it difficult to attract new players to Ballybofey in the off-season.

Harps finished in fifth place last season, 14 points behind Wexford Youths, and some key members of that side have now moved on. Sean McCarron and Caomhin Bonner departed for Irish league side Cliftonville; goalkeepers Shaun Patton and Conor Winn joined Derry City and newly promoted Galway United respectively; Johnny Bonner moved to First Division rivals Wexford Youths; and American midfielder Pat McCann swapped Donegal for Seville, signing for Spanish side Brenes Balompie.

While Horgan has re-signed 17 of last season's panel, including defender Packie Mailey and veteran striker Kevin McHugh, eight new players have come in – but all of those have come from clubs based in Derry, Armagh, Sligo and Donegal itself. Nobody from further south has made the move up north to Finn Park.

Speaking to Extratime.ie at last Friday's 2015 SSE Airtricity League launch, Horgan said: “The sooner it starts next Friday the better, it's hard going all season trying to motivate players to stay and to travel the country for very little on offer. Especially geographically where we are, getting the lads to go down to Cobh, for example, and back in the one day without any overnight.

“We lost a few that I didn't want to lose and we got a few in that I'm delighted with. Maybe there were another few that we were hopeful of getting in that we didn't get in, which might be a bit of a disappointment. It's hard to attract players here, but look we've got a bunch of players in that are committed, number one, and we'll see where that takes us.”

One of the players Harps have missed out on is Derry City striker Nathan Boyle, who looked poised to join the club on loan until the deal collapsed – and it may not be resurrected before the start of the season.

“We'll see where that goes, but at the moment it's not done and it looks like it may not go through,” admitted Horgan. “That would be of no fault of Nathan's, Nathan wanted to come out, but that's where it is at the moment. We had Nathan out last year before he actually signed for Derry.

“We'd love to have Nathan Boyle, he'd have added power and pace to us. It's a good opportunity for him to come out and to go back having had a good ten or 15 games under his belt, but at the moment it doesn't look like it's going through.”

Despite the difficulties in finding new blood for the club, Horgan is pleased with the players he has managed to bring in. Returning loan Rover Ruairi Keating had a productive time during a similar spell in the first-half of last season, while Sligo teammate Regan Donelan has followed him to Ballybofey this time around on a similar deal to gain some first-team experience.

Other signings include a number of former players returning to Finn Park after spells away, such as Ciaran Gallagher, Raymond Foy, Mark Brolly, Matt Crossan and Garbhan Friel, while 21 year old Tony McNamee – the younger brother of Derry City midfielder Barry – joins the club for the first time from Glenavon.

However, Horgan believes his side would be over-achieving if they could launch a sustained challenge for the play-off spots given the strength of the other teams in the league.

“When you take the panels the other teams have, there is a fair amount of quality in the other sides,” said Horgan. “Hopefully we can make up that gap, maybe, with a little bit of commitment and drive, but we're not under any illusions that we're going to walk into a top three, absolutely not. It would be a serious achievement for the group of players we have to get there, but it'll be difficult.

“Wexford and Shelbourne there, they both finished 14-17 points ahead of us last year, and they have strengthened,” added Horgan. “There's no mention of Wexford in anyone's booking, but they'll be a real force. They didn't finish 14 points ahead of us for no reason, and they've held onto the majority of their players and added to it, so they'll be a real force as well.

“Where you're talking about UCD with the quality they have – the likes of Robbie Benson – on top of the naturally talented players they have, they'll be a force, and Eddie Wallace in Athlone has put a serious squad together too. On paper they're well ahead of us. Whether that materialises onto the pitch, we'll see.”