Connolly screamer earns Harps a point against Bohemians

Around Finn Park way, the more things change the more they stay the same.

Finn Harps 1
Bohemians 1

The last time Finn Harps lined out on Navenny Street, they hammered Longford Town 5-0 to ensure their Premier Division survival. Ryan Connolly scored a cracker that night for Ollie Horgan’s side.

From the starting XI last November, only five players remained, although the commitment from the new players was certainly evident and, again, Connolly pinged home a fantastic strike on 64 minutes to give the hosts their first goal of the campaign.

Promise Omochere steered the opening goal on 51 minutes when an attempted clearance from Ryan Rainey clipped Ethan Boyle from Dawson Devoy cross. The last talking point of the night was a second yellow which meant a red, picked by the Bohemians frontman - for a second foul on Boyle - in the 89th minute.

What felt like an eternity beforehand, Max Murphy drew a scrambling save from Mark Anthony McGinley as early as the fifth minute. It looked as though Kris Twardek would merely pop it into the yawning goal from the follow-up, only for his teammate Ali Coote to block the shot.

Following the postponement of their first outing of the campaign, when Drogheda United were due in the Twin Towns, Élie Gael N'zeyi Kibonge saw a shot blocked while Yoyo Mahdy glanced a header wide as the Ballybofey side looked for their first goal ofg the campaign.

Jordan Flores, though the crowd, drew a smart stop from McGinley down low at his near post. Harps created plenty yet scored none in their opening two encounters this term and towards the end of the first half, put together a few decent passages of play without testing James Talbot.

Keith Long’s visitors had picked up four points from their first two outings, with a 1-0 victory against St Patrick’s Athletic followed by a 2-2 draw with Dundalk. They were soon one up in the north-west, with Omochere on the mark.

After falling behind, the home side missed a glorious opportunity to get back on terms in the 64th minute. Bohemians were caught too square and Yoyo Mahdy set Filip Mihaljević skipping away. Faced only with Talbot, the Croatian took a heavy touch and that was enough to enable the goalkeeper to make a vital block.

Only 90 seconds later, though, Harps were level thanks to a fantastic left-footed shot from Connolly, which flew across Talbot and into the top corner.

Omochere, looking for his second of the night, was inches away from it with a fine effort from the edge of the area of 72 minutes that cannoned off McGinley’s crossbar. After Bastien Héry headed just wide at the Town End for Harps, Omochere got in on McGinley again and his dink got over the netminder only for Rainey to hook clear.

Finn Harps: Mark Anthony McGinley; Ethan Boyle, José Carrillo (Rob Slevin 42), Dave Webster; Barry McNamee, Élie Gael N'zeyi Kibonge, Bastien Héry (Luke Rudden 86), Ryan Connolly, Ryan Rainey; Yoyo Mahdy (Eric McWoods 75), Filip Mihaljević.

Bohemians: James Talbot; Rory Feely, James Finnerty (Ciaran Kelly 41), Grant Horton, Max Murphy; Jordan Doherty, Dawson Devoy; Ali Coote (Stephen Mallon 78), Jordan Flores, Kris Twardek; Promise Omochere.

Referee: Damien McGraith