Salthill Devon 0 - 4 Finn Harps

• Aidan O'Donnell
• Mon, Jun 27 2011


A brilliant Kevin McHugh hat-trick helped Finn Harps record their biggest win of the season against Salthill Devon at Drom on Saturday night.

Undeterred by the absent Packie Mailey (injured) and the suspended duo of Paddy McLaughlin and Aaron McElwee, Harps made it two league wins on the bounce and picked up their first three points on the road this season.

Harps have now conceded just one goal in their last four games and can cut the gap on the next team above them, Athlone Town, to just a point should they win their game in-hand over the midlanders.

The only sour note of the night, from a Harps point of view, was an injury picked up for James Doherty to his medial ligament, but one man’s loss was another’s gain and 17-year-old Martin Redmond came on for his first senior appearance.

McHugh opened his account for the night with a beautifully crafted lob that badly caught out Salthill ‘keeper Ronan Forde on seven minutes, but the visitors would have to wait until the early stages of the second half before finding the net again.

McHugh’s strike partner Blaine Curtis was on hand to slam home after Forde had parried a shot into the striker’s path and the youngster gratefully accepted the gift to give Harps a comfortable two-goal lead.

Salthill regrouped and tried their best to make inroads into the deficit, with Ciaran Coll having to clear a ball off the line from a Paddy Quinlan header, while Etanda Nkololo might’ve found the net but for a heavy touch.

However, the game was then put to bed just after the hour mark when McHugh capitalised on some kamikaze defending to tap home from close range. And the Killea man completed his hat-trick a few minutes later when he found the net from a dead-ball, after James Whelan conceded a free on the edge of the area.

Whelan, who picked up a yellow for the altercation, then received a second booking sixteen minutes from time, compounding the home side’s misery even more so.

To make matters worse, Salthill coach Mick Quirke was then sent to the stands for contesting the decision to the fourth official.

Harps now welcome promotion-chasing Cork City to Ballybofey this Saturday night for what is set up to be a cracker by the Finn between two sides in good form.

The Harps management of Peter Hutton and Felix Healy will face something of a selection headache, though, as Paddy McLaughlin and Aaron McElwee both return from their one-match suspensions attained for an accumulation of yellow cards.

On top of that, new signings JP Gallagher, Stephen O’Donnell, Sean McCarron and Hutton himself are all eligible to play as the game comes a day after the July transfer window opens.

Salthill Devon: Ronan Forde; Brian Geraghty, Paddy Quinlan, James Whelan, Ray Winters, Ronan Conlon, Eugene Greaney, Colm Horgan, Victor Collins, Gerry Dolan, Etanda Nkololo. Subs: Charlie Burke, Enda Dunne, Luke McConnell, Timmy Molloy, Brian O'Grady, Mike Quirke.

Finn Harps: Ciaran Gallagher; James Doherty, Keith Cowan, Aaron O'Hagan, Ciaran Coll; Gareth Harkin, Mark Forker, Thomas Bonnar, Marc Brolly; Kevin McHugh, Blaine Curtis. Subs: Christopher Patton, Gary Merritt, Oisin McMenamin, Josh Mailey, Martin Redmond.

Referee: Conor Fitzgerald.

Extratime.ie man of the match: Kevin McHugh (Finn Harps).