Finn Harps 2 - 2 Limerick

• Aidan O'Donnell
• Fri, Mar 04 2011


Finn Harps let a one-goal lead twice slip as Limerick fought back to earn a share of the spoils in a very incident-packed encounter at Finn Park tonight.

Both sides ended the game with ten men with Mark Forker and Stephen O’Flynn each receiving their marching orders, though the nature of both was questionable at best.

Before that, Kevin McHugh had given the home side the lead before O’Flynn cancelled that out on twenty-two minutes.

Harps, though, recaptured their lead on thirty-six minutes when Gareth Harkin slammed home only to be hauled back once more by Paudie Quinn midway through the second half.

Harps handed debuts to Conor O’Grady, Paddy McLaughlin and Gareth Harkin, while Ciaran Coll made his first competitive start since snapping his cruciate ligament in his left knee against Limerick almost fourteen months ago.

The visitors, meanwhile, handed no fewer than seven starts to new signings brought in by Pat Scully in the off-season, with Barry Ryan, Garbhan Broughall, Brian McCarthy, Paudie Quinn, Garry Sheahan, John Frost and Peter Hynes all featuring.

Harps got themselves off to a dream start when, after just four minutes, Kevin McHugh climbed completely unchallenged between a whole host of Limerick defenders to head home past Barry Ryan from Mark Forker’s teasing free-kick.

The early breakthrough didn’t prove much of a platform, though, but rather the spark for an avalanche of Limerick pressure.

Pat Scully’s side, who matched Harps’ 4-3-3 approach, looked very threatening with the likes of Gary Sheahan and Peter Hynes stretching the Harps back-four this way and that.

The former tormented full-back James Doherty with some mazy runs, latching onto a quite brilliant Paudie Quinn through-ball before firing inches past the far upright.

Harps, crippled by a lack of adventure and the sheer pressure Limerick were exerting, eventually succumbed in the twenty-third minute when Quinn skinned several defenders before dragging across the six-yard box for Stephen O’Flynn to tap home with simplistic ease.

But like their opponents before them, Limerick showed no sign of kicking on and were made to pay when Harps retook the lead nine minutes before the interval.

Referee John Grimes allowed play to continue after Kevin McHugh robbed Pat Purcell of possession, with some of the visiting support feeling the Harps captain had clipped his opposite skipper on the way through.

McHugh rightfully played on, pulling square for the onrushing Tommy Bonner whose cross-come-shot was tapped home from three yards by debutant Gareth Harkin.

The second half was similarly action-packed but of a very different kind, with referee John Grimes finding himself firmly at the centre of attention for all the wrong reasons.

After failing to show red to Purcell for a last-man challenge on Mark Forker, the Harps midfielder, was, ironically, shown red himself just five minutes later, despite apparently taking every bit of the ball in another coming together, this time with Gary Sheehan.

Harps’ subsequent discontent was compounded even more so when Paudie Quinn slid home from close range, leaving a very bitter after-taste among the home support.

The shambolic scenes didn’t end there as Stephen O’Flynn also saw red with fifteen minutes remaining after an apparent off-the-ball assault on Packie Mailey, which was initially let go, but brought to the attention of his eagle-eyed assistants.

Harkin and Limerick replacement Jeffrey Judge each had good chances to win it for their respective sides but were thwarted by fairly comfortable saves by both Barry Ryan and Ciaran Gallagher.

Finn Harps: Ciaran Gallagher; James Doherty, Packie Mailey, Paddy McLaughlin, Ciaran Coll; Mark Forker, Conor O’Grady, Tommy Bonner; Gareth Harkin, Kevin McHugh, Marc Brolly.
Subs not used: Keith Cowan, Raymond Foy, Lee McFadden, Oisin McMenamin, Aaron O'Hagan, Gary Whoriskey.

Booked: McLaughlin (20).
Sent off: Forker (60).

Limerick: Barry Ryan; Garbhan Broughall, Brian McCarthy, Pat Purcell, John Frost; David O’Leary (Shane Tracy, 66), Darren Coleman, Paudie Quinn; Stephen O’Flynn, Peter Hynes (Chris Breen, 55), Gary Sheahan (Jeffrey Judge, 66).
Subs not used: Shane Cusack, Steven McGann, Brian O'Callaghan, Peter White.

Booked: O'Flynn (41), Broughall (51), Purcell (55), McCarthy (83).
Sent off: O'Flynn (75).

Referee: John Grimes.

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Paddy McLaughlin