Sligo Rovers 1
Finn Harps 1
FINN HARPS’ HOPES of picking up their first victory of the season were dashed in the dying seconds as Sligo Rovers nicked a point thanks to a 90th-minute penalty.
Harps were leading thanks to Sean Boyd’s first-half goal, before referee Ben Connolly pointed to the spot late on, with Ronan Coughlan slotting the ball home.
The Bit O’Red came into this game having picked up five points from their last four games, still sitting third-bottom in the table. The Donegal men, on the other hand, had just two points on the board all season before travelling to The Showgrounds, losing their last 10 consecutive league games.
However, one would almost have been forgiven for thinking that Harps were the team higher up the table, as Ollie Horgan’s men were the better side in the first 45 minutes.
They had the first real opportunity of the game, with Daniel O’Reilly nodding Mark Russell’s cross straight into the hands of Mitchell Beeney.
Tony McNamee’s shot was well wide, before Sligo had their first real chance with Ronan Coughlan getting on the end of Johnny Dunleavy’s ball, only to hook it well over the bar.
Former Sligo man Caolan McAleer hoped to open the scoring around the half-hour mark, but the sting was taken out of his powerful drive when it deflected off Dante Leverock.
Niall Morahan’s cross was sent wide by Ronan Murray, returning from a four-match ban, before the league’s bottom side took the lead.
After a spell of dominance in the Sligo box, the Donegal men got their just rewards on 42 minutes. As Rovers struggled to clear the danger, John Kavanagh’s cross was met by the head of Sean Boyd, who sent it past Beeney.
The Bit O’Red supporters were celebrating on 66 minutes as Romeo Parkes tucked the ball past Peter Burke in the Harps goal, only to see that the linesman’s flag had been raised.
An outstanding save from Burke just moments later kept Harps in the lead, as he managed to get a palm to Johnny Dunleavy’s header. His opposite number Beeney was called into action seconds later. McAleer burst down the right-hand side, taking a shot from distance with just the goalkeeper to beat, but the former Chelsea man got his legs in the way.
Parkes should have levelled the scoring with just over 10 minutes left on the clock when Burke’s clearance fell straight to him. The Jamaican just had the Harps keeper to beat, but he could not direct the ball around Burke and he made a comfortable interception.
It looked as though Harps were heading home with all three points, until Daniel O’Reilly upended Coughlan in the box in the 90th minute. A penalty was awarded, with O’Reilly getting his second yellow card of the game.
Coughlan sent the resulting penalty past Burke to level the contest at the death.
SLIGO ROVERS: Mitchell Beeney, Johnny Dunleavy, Dante Leverock, John Mahon, Lewis Banks, Sam Warde (Kris Twardek, 76), David Cawley, Niall Morahan (Daryl Fordyce, 55), Ronan Murray (Regan Donelon, 46), Ronan Coughlan, Romeo Parkes.
FINN HARPS: Peter Burke, John Kavanagh, Sam Todd, Niall Logue, Daniel O’Reilly, Mark Russell (Keith Cowan, 67), Mark Coyle, Raffaele Cretaro (Nathan Boyle, 71), Tony McNamee (Jacob Borg, 83), Caolan McAleer, Sean Boyd.
Referee: Ben Connolly.
Jessica Farry reports from The Showgrounds
Gavan Casey and Murray Kinsella are joined by Andy Dunne to get stuck into last weekend’s Champions Cup semi-finals.:
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