Kevin McHugh: Finn Harps youngsters ‘chomping at the bit’ to stake their claim

Kevin McHugh hailed the resilience and maturity of his young Finn Harps side as they look to continue a strong run of form when Longford Town come to Ballybofey on Friday evening.

Harps are unbeaten in their last three, with a scoreless draw away to Athlone Town followed by back-to-back 1-0 wins, at home to Dundalk and away to Treaty United. Those games all came over the space of a week. 

“We had to travel to Athlone and then the boys maxed themselves out against Dundalk,” McHugh said. “People were out on their feet and we were down bodies. We were really light on the bench, but we dug deep.

“We didn’t make a sub at Treaty, which is probably unique in itself.”

Harps were made work for the win in Limerick, where Treaty dominated the ball but found themselves undone by a clinical Harps performance as Gradi Lomboto scored his second match winner in succession.

McHugh said: “Treaty certainly had a huge percentage of the ball, possession wise, but I felt that a couple of the better chances fell to us.

“Tommy (Barrett) has Treaty going well and they’re as good a Treaty team as I’ve seen. He has brought a different dynamic to their team and they keep the ball well.”

McHugh says Harps’ young brigade are rising to the occasion, with Ballyshannon teenager Corey Sheridan - “he just looks assured for such a young kid,” the manager says - stepping in to keep three clean sheets.

“It all comes down to personnel,” McHugh said. “People are finding their feet and some people are playing at this level for the first time this season.

Harps started five under-18s against Treaty and some who were in the squad on Friday night travelled to Longford the next day to feature for the Harps U20s in Longford, where Oisin Cooney, Daniel Cunningham, Conor McGranaghan and Seaghan McCormick all played. 

McHugh said: “We have young fellas who are chomping at the bit to get into the team.

“Other than the Cobh game, in that nine-game run where we didn’t win, we were very, very close and the margins were very thin to turn a point into three,” he said. “That was down to us missing a lot of players and we don’t have a big squad where we can afford to be without key players.”

With the transfer window now open, Harps are hoping to add experience and quality - but McHugh is clear that any new face must fit the club’s long-term development model.

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He said: “We hope that we can add a bit of quality in the transfer window to help out the young boys.“Anyone coming in will have to complement the young players because it’s very important that we keep developing these players.

“Look at Gradi, who is in great form and he works his socks off. He puts his own game to the back burner to put a shift in for the team. The harder you work, the luckier you get - and he is certainly working hard at the minute.”