Finn Harps end a disappointing season with share of the spoils in Bray 

The 2023 season will go down in the record books as a disappointing one for Finn Harps but they did at least manage to finish it on something of a positive note at the Carlisle Grounds on Friday night.

Bray Wanderers 1 Finn Harps 1

The Donegal men led in the first-half in Bray but the Seagulls ensured they didn’t end their campaign on too much of a low note thanks to Chris Lyons’ 62nd minute penalty.

Both sides could have won it as, with nothing on the line, they both threw caution to the wind but neither could producer the decisive moment.

It was a horrific evening for a game of football with the wind and rain battering the players and the ball not freely moving in either the air or on the ground.

Tony McNamee, operating in the hole behind the strikers, showed good footwork on 19 minutes as he juggled the ball on the edge of the area before teeing himself up for a half-volley that skidded inches wide.

Harps then hit the front on 25 minutes. A short corner kick was played to McNamee. He jinked past his marker and closed in on the goal before cutting back to Matthew Mackinson who drilled home from 12 yards.

On the half hour mark, Cole Omorerhiomwan nodded away a Harps corner kick. McNamee ran onto it and caught it sweetly in the half-volley but it flew over the crossbar.

Bray relieved the pressure on themselves in the 32nd minute when Guillermo Almirall embarked on a driving run into the away half. He slipped in Lyons who looked set to pull the trigger but Noe Baba denied him with an impeccably-timed sliding tackle.

With the wind at their backs, Harps knew crosses would cause Bray trouble and their latest one bounced around before Baba picked it up. 

He dummied a shot initially to create space and looked bound to rifle home but Connor denied him excellently as he clawed it away with his right hand.

Bray introduced two of their young brigade at the interval as Daniel Chukwu and Alain Kizenga entered the fray. Kizenga came to his side’s rescue as he hooked one Harps effort off the line.

And how vital that intervention proved to be when Chris Lyons chased down a long ball, got the wrong side of his man and  was bundled over. Carolan pointed to the spot and Lyons drilled down the middle to beat the Republic of Ireland U-17 international.

Harps almost offered an instant response as a stupendous curling effort McNamee was bending towards the corner until Harry Groome knocked it away on the goal-line.

There was a gilt-edged opportunity for the visitors to then win it. McNamee – at the heart of everything again – sprayed a fine pass down the right channel for Aaron McLaughlin. 

He took it to the byline and drew Connor before slipping it to Sean O’Donnell for a tap-in but Max Murphy somehow managed to make a sensational block. Neither side could muster a winner so perhaps fittingly the match – like their seasons – fizzled out.

Bray Wanderers: Matthew Connor; Max Murphy, Jack Hudson (Dave Webster, 54), Cole Omorehiomwan, Dane Massey; Darren Craven, Gulliermo Almirall (Daniel Chukwu, ht), Harry Groome; Conor Knight (Alain Kizenga, ht) Chris Lyons (Billy O'Neill, 84), Callum Thompson.

Finn Harps: Oisin Cooney; Jamie Watson, Noe Baba, Matthew Mackinson; Ryan Rainey (BJ Banda, 80), Stephen Doherty, Max Hutchinson, Kevin Jordan; Tony McNamee; Aaron McLaughlin, Sean O’Donnell.

Referee: Daryl Carolan.