New dad Tony McNamee leads Finn Harps after baby Theo arrives

Finn Harps captain Tony McNamee might have some sleepless nights ahead.

The Ramelton man became a father on Thursday, his wife Sarah giving birth to baby boy Theo.

McNamee sat out last weekend’s game in Cobh, but was back in action on Friday night for the 1-1 draw against Wexford at Finn Park.

“The bottle-making will probably start now soon, so it'll be interesting,” a beaming McNamee said. 

“I’m not too overwhelmed about it, but thankfully, all's well and Sarah and the baby are good, which is the main thing.

“Touch wood, everything will be smooth sailing. And again, the lack of sleep and stuff, we'll just deal with it.”

McNamee returned to training on Thursday night and was named Man of the Match after Friday night’s stalemate with Wexford.

The 32-year-old was full of praise for his manager, Kevin McHugh, who left him at home for the trek to Cobh.

McNamee said: “We discussed it in the off-season and he rang me last week and basically told me: ‘look, we're in Cobh, you're not going to Cobh’. 

“It was great to have that understanding from Kevin.”

McNamee applied the assist for Daniel De Lacerda’s goal in the 64th minute that earned Harps a point. Jake Doyle’s early goal had threatened to spoil McNamee’s big week.

“I don't think we came out of the blocks at the start of the first half,” the Harps skipper said. 

“I think they won most first balls and probably every second ball.

“We dug it out for 20-25 minutes and we put them under a lot of pressure then. I think we finished the end of the first half very well, especially the last 10-15 minutes, I thought we were very good. 

“We came out at the start of the second half the same way as we finished the end of the first half. Half-time probably came at a bad time for us, but the way we played in the second half, I can't fault anyone really.

“The calibre of players we have, the determination and things like that, we've dug in really hard in the off-season and pre-season. I think the crowd have seen that in us, especially the last game at home here against UCD. 

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“You've seen how hard players are working and all in all, it's a good point. Wexford are a great side, they strengthened a lot from last year. 

“We have plenty of ability as well. It's just a matter of getting mixed together and the new boys coming in have settled very well. When the pitch gets better, we'll be able to play as well.”