Finn Harps land first home win in the league with victory over Athlone Town

Finn Harps 2 Athlone Town 0 
By the time Success Edogun hit Finn Harps’ second goal low into the net after a superb flick to play the ball back to the striker on the 43rd minute, it was accepted that it was going to be a long and quite a cold night in Finn Park for Athlone Town.

Despite the torrid weather that caused several League of Ireland matches in both divisions to be postponed throughout the day, there seemed to be an abnormal feel considering the match in the north-west of the country was going ahead. 

Something felt different, but then again, so far this season, there’s been a different, and much more positive mood around the Ballybofey ground, one that hasn’t been felt in quite a while. 

At the break there was a different feel for the away side too as they trailed 2-0, having been leading in their previous two games against Wexford and Cobh Ramblers after 45 minutes. 

In what was a ponderous opening 15 minutes, neither team could get a foothold in the match, despite Harps applying early pressure on the Athlone defence.  

Darren Murphy was in his usual excited mood in the opening period, and he was well within his right to be, considering how much his side grew into the game, controlling the majority of possession and creating the only two goals of the match. 

And while the Harps’ manager might focus on a few areas of improvement in his post-match video analysis, he’ll no doubt be pleased overall considering his side only secured one point from their first three games this time last season, with one of those defeats coming in a 3-1 loss to the very team they defeated this evening. 

Stephen Doherty started the flow for the Harps’ men on the 16th minute after some super pressing from Max Hutchison, which allowed Edogun to win possession as Athlone tried to work it out of their defence.  

The resulting turnover afforded the striker to steam down the right wing and play it to Doherty on the back post for the 23-year-old to cooly finish into the net as Finn Park erupted.  

Edogun was on hand again down the right-wing moments later causing untold trouble for the Athlone defence, and while he broke into the box, he was adamant he should’ve been given a penalty for a foul on him, only for referee Daniel Murphy to wave for the game to be played on. 

Harps nearly had their second goal on the 28th minute when again Edogun, who is very much making his presence known since joining the Donegal club in January, had his cross palmed off the line from the Athlone goalkeeper which spared the away side’s blushes after a mix up of communication in their defence.  

Athlone Town’s only true opportunities to bother the Harps’ side were coming from their overreliance on long throw-ins into the box but were ultimately kept at bay thanks to Jamie Watson and Noe Baba in the backline.  

Noah van Geenen got the Midlands club closest chance in the first half when he came around the back of Edogun from a corner on the 35th minute, but the Harp’s man did enough to put him under pressure and clear it to the right of the post. 

There was always a feeling that a second goal for Murphy’s team was not too far away, and that inkling was correct when two minutes before half-time Tony McNamee dinked in a free kick on the edge of the box.  

The follow up left Watson to flick it beautifully back to Edogun who fired low for the home side’s second goal as they ran to the dressing room with a 2-0 lead at the break. 

Athlone will be disappointed that they were unable to capitalise on their dominance in the second half as the Harps’ bodies tired. 

Aaron Connolly came nearest to closing the gap five minutes into the second period, but his header was just off target as it ballooned over the crossbar. 

With frustration seeping in, the away side began branding heavy challenges around the park to the boys in blue, but to Finn Harps’ credit, they kept their structure and avoided any serious injuries which has plagued Murphy’s team this year, although Tony McNamee made his way to the side of the pitch briefly in the dying minutes. 

With 15 minutes remaining it never looked like Harps were going to relinquish their lead as they sat back defensively to see out the game in an overall encouraging performance as their defensive cordon remained tight as the match petered out to a reasonably amicable conclusion despite seven minutes of injury time. 

Finn Harps: Tim Hiemer; Jamie Watson, Noe Baba, Matty Makinson, Shane McMonagle; Patrick Ferry (Mark Mbuli 86), Max Hutchison, David Cawley, Tony McNamee; Stephen Doherty (Luke O’Brien 73), Success Edogun. 

Athlone Town: Enda Minogue; Jarlath Jones (Oisin Duffy 55), German Fuentes Rodriguez, Noah van Geenen, Dylan Hand; Daniel McKenna, Aaron Connolly (Shane Forbes 87), Carl Mujaguzi, Amardo Akeem Oakley; Dean Ebbe, Jamal Ibrahim (Dylan Gavin 55).  

Referee: Daniel Murphy