If you defend like that you don’t deserve to be in the play-offs - McHugh

Finn Harps manager Kevin McHugh believes an under-par defensive showing was a key factor behind his side’s 3-2 defeat to Bray Wanderers in the SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division at the Carlisle Grounds on Friday.

Seeking a win to boost their promotion play-off prospects, Harps brought a 2-1 lead into the break thanks to goals from Hans Mpongo and Conor Tourish. The visitors also had a numerical advantage after Bray midfielder Sean Brennan was dismissed on a second yellow card and substitute Aaron McLaughlin had a golden opportunity to move his side two goals clear on 66 minutes.

However, the 10-man hosts rallied with a brace of successful penalties from Max Murphy and Harps now remain sixth in the First Division table (six points off the play-off spots) with just five games left in the regular season.

“It’s a big blow and as I said to the boys in there, if you defend like that you don’t deserve to be in the play-offs. That’s the learning curve for me. Attacking wise yes, Aaron McLaughlin had an absolute gilt-edged chance to put us 3-1 up and I think at 3-1 the game is over,” McHugh remarked after the game.

“He misses that from three yards out and 10 minutes later it’s two each. Those are the thin margins. It’s not that we’re playing poorly. We’re creating loads of chances, but our defending tonight was probably unlike us and it was unlike us against Cork [in the FAI Cup]. We’ve just had a wee wobble defensively and we need to get back to basics.”