Declan Boyle feels Finn Harps can create another bit of history

Former Finn Harps captain Declan Boyle believes that if the Donegal club can reproduce the form that they showed in last week’s hugely impressive 3-1 win over St. Patrick’s Athletic, then they can knock Derry City out of the FAI Cup for the first time ever when the sides meet in Friday’s eagerly awaited second round clash at Finn Park.

This is the 76th competitive meeting between the two north-west rivals since 1985 - with Harps having won just nine times.
They have notched up five league wins, two in the League Cup, and two in the defunct Irish News Cup.

In four previous FAI Cup meetings, City have come out on top on each occasion, and Harps have drawn a blank in front of goals each time.

But could Harps make a bit of history for the second time this season against their biggest rivals?
Having notched up their first ever league win at the Brandywell, a cup success now would be a massive boost - and would keep the recent winning streak going.

“This is going to be a very difficult game for both teams. Derry have been excellent in recent weeks but if Harps can play as well as they did against St. Pat’s, they can do it,” Boyle said.

Indeed, he was very impressed with hat-trick hero Tunde Owolabi against the Saints, and the hope is that the Belgian striker can sparkle again.

“It’s no exaggeration to say he could have had five. It was as good a performance as I have seen for a long, long time, with his overall play, his finishing and composure. They were three really good goals and hopefully he can reproduce that against Derry. He does give Harps that X-factor up top.”

When the sides last met, City emerged victorious from their short trip across the border with a 2-1 win. Both goals came from the now departed Will Patching and Boyle felt that Harps deserved something out of that one. Harps are still looking anxiously at the sides around them in the battle to stay up, and few pundits are unlikely to part with too much on them to go all the way at their local bookies.

Nevertheless, as Boyle points out, confidence comes with winning and Horgan’s side would certainly like to keep the recent momentum going.

”If you win and get a favourable draw in the quarter-finals, then who knows,” he says.
After all, he adds, they actually led Shamrock Rovers 2-0 in the quarter-finals last year before losing 3-2 with the Dubliners aided by three penalties (one of which they failed to score from) in a bizarre five minute spell of a never-to-be-forgotten clash.

However, Derry will be the slight favourites. “Derry’s chief aim is to get into Europe next season and they will be hoping to get up the table. But they will also be looking at the cup, and they have the pedigree,” Boyle says.

Boyle knows a thing or two about north-west derby clashes and what they mean to the fans. He has enjoyed the highs and lows from being involved in both camps. When he joined Derry City - having previously been captain of Celtic reserves - the Killybegs native helped them to the League of Ireland Premier Division title in the 1996/97 season.

The following year, he was on the Harps side that created history as a sole Donal O’Brien goal enabled them to beat the Candystripes for the first time ever in the league. He recalls that “special night” and was fully aware of just what it meant to the Harps fans. The underdogs had finally got one over their neighbours.

Little did anyone suspect that the next Harps success over Derry would not come until the start of the 2016 Premier Division campaign when the Ballybofey side triumphed 2-1 in front of a capacity crowd of 4,400.

It was a first win over the old enemy under the management of Ollie Horgan, who has since gone on to be Harps’ most successful boss against the Foylesiders, with four wins over City.

Horgan presided over three more league wins (in 2017 and 2019) and another little bit of history was made earlier this year with that first ever league victory at the Brandywell venue.

“Harps have done really well under Ollie against Derry,” he remarks. Harps have now won four on the bounce, including their FAI Cup win in the last round over Limerick junior side Fairview Rangers, while Derry go into the match with four successive league wins.

Earlier in the season, Derry boss Ruaidhrí Higgins spoke about how much Harps have improved under manager Horgan, stating: “This is the best Finn Harps team since I came back into the League of Ireland in 2005, there’s no doubt about that.” His view is unlikely to have changed.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions the attendance is capped at 800 - with Derry getting 10% of the ticket allocation - but make no mistake about it there will be plenty of noise inside the Finnside stadium.

This will be the 17th time that Harps have played Derry City competitively under Ollie Horgan. It could be a long evening, and extra-time and penalties would come as no surprise. Let the battle commence. Kick-off is 8.00 pm.