- Stuart Connolly
- Fri, Feb 17 2023
American Vince Borden netted a brace on his debut as Galway United began their First Division campaign with an away win over Finn Harps on a wet night in Ballybofey.
Borden found the net in each half as Ryan Rainey struck from the penalty spot to cancel out the first goal a couple of minutes from half time.
As the 2023 campaign began at Finn Park this encounter spelled the beginning of a new era for the hosts along with a plethora of debutants for both teams. One man in particular was a very familiar face for the Finn Harps family and it begs the question due to a force of habit: Did Ollie Horgan head towards the home dressing room upon arrival?
Now assistant to John Caulfield at Eamon Deacy Park, Horgan spent nine years in the dugout at Harps. His departure at the back end of last year was the end of an era for the club and Dave Rogers took over the reins at the Ballybofey club in December 2022.
Rogers gave debuts to nine of his new signings with Ryan Rainey the only name from last season while Keith Cowan is making his second debut with the club having spent a couple of years away.
John Caulfield named four new players in his starting lineup with Brendan Clarke and Vince Borden in from the beginning. Rob Slevin and Regan Donelon also started with both having represented Harps plenty during the previous season.
With the number of debutants on the field, it was highly likely that one of them would open the scoring and that's exactly what happened just five minutes into the game.
Ronan Manning whipped in a free kick from the left and it was kept alive at the back post as Borden prodded home from point blank range.
Manning was heavily involved during the opening stages having had an effort saved inside 120 seconds. With 15 minutes gone, he went even closer as his shot from a narrow angle had Tim Heimer beaten but it was cleared away to safety by Keith Cowan.
Heimer was spared a howler on his debut at the midway point of the first half as his hesitation allowed Rob Manley to snatch the ball. The striker had his back to goal and the time to turn allowed the shot stopper to recover and make a crucial save.
The hosts struggled to gel during the first half an hour as this young side played together for the first time, competitively at least. United showed many reasons as to why they sit as one of the favourites to get promoted.
With just a few minutes left to go in the half, Harps were awarded a penalty as former Harps man Slevin dragged Michael Harris to the ground. The spot kick was well dispatched right down the middle of the goal by Rainey.
Similar to their start to the first half, the Galway section of the crowd were celebrating within five minutes, the spectators joy was short lived though, as they had been deceived by the ball hitting the side netting after a low shot from Manning.
On the hour, the away end began to celebrate once again and this time, it wouldn't be stopped in its tracks. David Hurley hit in a low cross from the left and it rolled invitingly for Borden to strike from 18 yards and a big deflection took it well beyond the reach of Heimer.
Cian Lynch had a couple of efforts to level the game with just under 20 minutes to go as a low strike was saved from close range while the corner that followed saw him glance a header just over.
On the counter attack moments later, the visitors had the chance to finish the game off as Ed McCarthy raced clear but Heimer narrowed the angle to deny him.
On an evening where the rain showed no signs of letting up, United maintained their composure to see out the match and put three points in the bag.
Finn Harps: Tim Heimer; Ellis Farrar, Daithi McCallion, Keith Cowan; Ryan Rainey, Ryan Flood, Katlego Mashigo, Seamus Keogh (Filip da Silva 69), Caoimhin Porter; Michael Harris (Sean O'Donnell 87), Daniel Okutwe (Cian Lynch 50).
Subs not used: Oisin Farrell(GK), Kevin Jordan, Damian Duffy, Shaunie Bradley, Shane McMonagle, Brendan McLaughlin.
Booked: Daniel Okutwe(13), Caoimhin Porter (63), Ryan Rainey (64)
Galway United: Brendan Clarke; Regan Donelon, Rob Slevin, Killian Brouder, Colm Horgan; Conor McCormack, Vince Borden, Ronan Manning (Mikie Rowe 89), Ed McCarthy (Maurice Nugent 81); Rob Manley (David Hurley 58), Stephen Walsh (Francely Lomboto 89).
Subs not used: Alex Rutter, Conor O'Keeffe, Ibrahima Keita, Evan O'Connor, Darren Clarke.
Booked: John Caulfield (21), Rob Slevin (42), Killian Brouder (75)
Referee: David Dunne
extratime.com player of the match: Vince Borden(Galway United)
