Finn Harps 1
Bohemians 1

Alan Foley reports from Finn Park

PROMISE OMOCHERE and Ryan Connolly scored the goals as Bohemians were pegged back by Finn Harps on a chilly night in Ballybofey.

Omochere adjusted his feet in a flash to finish well when Ryan Rainey’s attempted clearance grazed Ethan Boyle after Dawson Devoy’s cross six minutes into the second half for the opening goal.

And although the home side were full of endeavour, they hadn’t tested James Talbot enough until Connolly snuck down the inside left channel on 64 minutes and cracked a fantastic equaliser when played in by Bastien Héry.

The closest that either team went to a winning goal was when Omochere found himself in a pocket of space and his effort from outside of the penalty area struck the Harps crossbar. However, instead of being the hero, Omochere turned out to be the villain with a second yellow card meaning red a minute from time for a second foul on Boyle.

The first home encounter of the season — following a postponement against Drogheda United two weeks later — gave the Ballybofey public a chance to observe the new-look squad that manager Ollie Horgan worked tirelessly to put together in the close season.

In the first half, 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.

Jordan Flores, through the crowd, drew a smart stop from McGinley down low at his near post. Harps put together a few decent passages of play without testing Talbot. However, both had their chances after the break. All in all, though, both sides can be content enough with a point.

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