Finn Harps' Darren Murphy: 'If I say what I feel, I’m the one who gets in trouble'

Darren Murphy said the fear of sanction from the football authorities meant he would keep his counsel on a controversial penalty that denied Finn Harps a point on Friday night.

Cian Murphy tucked home an 81st minute spot kick to give Cobh Ramblers a come-from-behind 2-1 win at Finn Park.

Harps raged when referee Marc Lynch, to the confusion of most of the 1,023 in attendance, awarded the penalty, deeming Harps defender Conor Tourish to have fouled the Cobh attacker..

“I am certainly not going to say how I feel about it,” Harps manager Murphy said. “If I say what I feel, I’m the one who gets in trouble. I will let people judge for themselves. 

“I have seen it back. I didn’t need to see it back, to be honest. The thing about football, the majority of the time, nine times out of 10, the reaction of the players tells you what it is and what it’s not - and that’s the reaction of both sets of players.”

Murphy spoke to the referee afterwards and said that Lynch “was 100 per cent certain that it was a penalty kick”. 

The Harps manager added: “All I said was ‘I am 100 per certain that it was not’.”

Murphy referenced a later incident when Harps substitute Max Johnston went to ground in the penalty box. The Harps bench cried foul believing that Johnston might have been unfairly impeded - “which didn’t happen, by the way,” Murphy noted - but their calls were dismissed. 

Murphy said: “When Conor wins the ball and it goes into our goalkeeper’s hands, nobody from their team, on the pitch or off it, claims for anything, then everyone has to make up their own mind. There might be some people in the ground of the opinion that it was a penalty. I would like to see that opinion poll. 

“The referee allowed me an opportunity to speak to him. It was probably difficult for him because he didn’t get a chance to see it back, but I thanked him for that opportunity.”

Harps are still searching for a first win of 2025 with one point from their opening five outings. Patrick Ferry gave Harps the lead, but Barry Coffey equalised before half-time and Cobh left with the win thanks to that late penalty.

Murphy said: ““They are giving absolutely everything they are. As long as they give me whatever they have got to give me, I’ll accept that. I am disappointed that we have got nothing from the game, but I am certainly not disappointed with their effort.  

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“This team, if the majority of them stay together, they will be okay. I said at the start of the year that this was always going to be another tough year because we lost a lot of experience. 

There is a long-term goal and a long-term objective here. If they stay together, they will be grand because they are learning in every game.”