Darren Murphy rues slow second-half start in loss to Wexford 

Darren Murphy says Finn Harps were just too slow out of the blocks against Wexford in the second-half as they suffered a 1-0 loss at home on Friday night. 

Having shaded matters inside the opening period, Dave Rogers side were second best for large chunks of the second. And the visitors made them pay on 64 minutes when Aaron Dobbs fired home what proved to be the game’s winning goal.

Harps did scramble for an equaliser down the stretch but again they just lacked that bit of guile and quality at the vital moments. Speaking after, assistant boss Murphy agreed that Harps just didn’t get up to the pitch of things quick enough after the restart. 

“I think we started too slowly in the second-half,” he said. “And when you do that it’s very hard to get back into the game. The disappointing thing about the performance was that I felt the first 45 minutes were very good. 

“It’s probably as comfortable as we’ve been since I’ve been here. But you can't create some of the chances we created and not take them. That’s something we can hopefully address moving forward. 

“Wexford had the better of the second-half but they still only had two real opportunities. Tim Hiemer makes a great save to his right and the other falls to Dobbs, who is free inside the area, and he finishes. 

“That’s the difference - that bit of quality. When you have that at the top end of the pitch it makes all the difference. At the end there, we’re relying on a front three of young lads that are still just kids, and currently having to learn on their feet. 

“To be fair to the likes of Max Johnston and Aaron McLaughlin, when they came on, I thought they were bright, they showed an energy and played with no fear. The last 15 or 20 minutes of the game we gave it a right go. 

“But the disappointing thing is we got ourselves into decent areas but there seems to be a reluctance to put the ball into the box. But we’ll dust ourselves down. We all knew it was going to be a long and difficult season”. 

Harps have added some reinforcements in recent weeks and the management will be determined to get those players integrated into the squad as soon as they can after July 1. 

Stephen Doherty and Patrick Ferry were confirmed back in May while in the last fortnight Tony McNamee has rejoined the club while defensive duo Scott Wara and Matty Makinson have also come on board.

Murphy says Harps have one or two others they’d like to pick up and if they can do that, he believes the second part of the First Division season can be much better. 

“We’re just past the halfway point,” he explained. “We’ve one more game to go and the window opens. There will be a real freshness to the group. If we’re able to do what we want to do in the window hopefully the second part of the season will be much better.

“The lads won’t be eligible for next week, Waterford away, but they will be good to go for the start of July on. All five will be available for the Bray game back here. They’re in and they’re working hard. And they’ll definitely bring quality as well as experience to the mix”.