Bad to worse as Finn Harps slide to ninth straight defeat
Finn Harps’ woes continued on Friday night as they shipped a ninth straight defeat with Athlone Town coming to Ballybofey and collecting all three points.
Finn Harps 0 Athlone Town 1
In a poor contest that only really came to life in the final quarter of an hour, it was Peter Grogan’s 53rd-minute effort that proved to be the contest’s eventual winner.
It wasn’t that Athlone, eighth before kick-off at the weekend, offered all that much themselves.
But in the rare moments where inroads were made in either final third, especially in the opening half, it was usually Sean O’Connor’s side making those dents.
However, down the stretch it’s fair to say that had Patrick McEleney’s charges forced an equaliser, it’s fair to say it wouldn’t have flattered them.
But it was very much a case of ‘too little, too late’ as Athlone stood firm to stumble to a crucial three points.
At the outset, the first chance fell Athlone’s way seven minutes in when, from a James Crawford corner, Evan O’Connor’s header was well smothered by Corey Sheridan.
Approaching the quarter-hour mark, Dylan Connolly did well down that same right flank but his low delivery had a little too much fizz on it, with an indecisive William Smith failing to make the most of what was a decent enough opportunity.
Athlone again found joy down that same side when, on 27 minutes, Connolly again got in behind a narrow home rearguard but despite the acrobatic intentions of ex-Harps man Patrick Ferry, his connection wasn’t what he’d have liked it to be and the effort went wide.
Seven minutes out from the break and Sheridan had to be alert to deal with a Sean Brennan free kick that bounced off a siege of battling bodies and somehow directed itself towards goal.
The visitors would take the lead seven minutes after the restart through Grogan with Ferry and another familiar face on Navenney Street, Gradi Lomboto, both heavily involved in the lead-up.
On 55 minutes, Harps had their first real effort on goal, but Joel Bradley Walsh’s tame free-kick from distance was easily gathered.
Harps' best chance to date came in the 76th minute when a Tony McNamee outswinging corner fell to Ciaron Harkin, all alone at the back post. Still, he somehow directed the opportunity up and over the crossbar.
On 83 minutes, home substitute Guilherme Rego Priosti clipped in from the left-hand side where another second-half replacement, Aaron McLaughlin, did his best to get on the end of the inviting delivery.
To their credit, Harps did their best to salvage something down the stretch with a McNamee long throw causing all sorts of bother inside the area, while a looping Josh Cullen header that seemed destined for the far corner of the net somehow dropped just over.
It’s a result that sees Athone jump to sixth in the standings as Harps remain rooted to the bottom, now eight points adrift of Treaty United, immediately above them.
Finn Harps: Corey Sheridan; Ciaron Harkin, Josh Cullen, Max Hutchison, Joel Bradley Walsh (Aaron McLaughlin, 56); Darragh Coyle, Gavin McAteer, Finn McKenlay (Bernardo Monteiro, 73), Tony McNamee, Ronan Ferns; Bridel Bosakani (Guilherme Rego Priosti, 56).
Athlone Town: Brendan Clarke; Evan O'Connor, Dylan Connolly, Patrick Ferry (Robert Lyons, 70); Sean Brennan, Gradi Lomboto, Peter Grogan, William Smith (Zach Lawless, 70), Callum Cleary; James Crawford, Jonathan Kehir.
Referee: Glen Geraghty.