After being fortunate to secure their first point of the new League of Ireland Premier Division campaign against Galway United on Friday night, Finn Harps are on the road to Dublin to take on St. Patrick’s Athletic tomorrow night with manager Ollie Horgan looking for a positive result that will hopefully build a bit of momentum after losing to Cork City and Bray Wanderers in the first two matches of the season. Horgan says an overall improved team performance will be required from his side to get anything out of the trip to Inchicore. “We got a draw against Galway but we will have to play a lot better in order to get a result against Pat’s. Like ourselves they only got their first point on Friday night so Liam Buckley will have his players up to get a win against us” Horgan said.
Harps are also away on Saturday to play Limerick F.C. so it’s going to be a hugely challenging week for the part-time outfit but Horgan is making no excuses on that front. “We now have two away games in the space of five days. That is Premier Division football and it’s good to be there so will get on with it starting tomorrow night against Pat’s” Horgan said.
In team news Paddy McCourt is a big doubt after coming off with coming off with a knee injury during Friday night’s game against Galway. And following training this morning Horgan also has concerns over Barry Molloy and Danny Morrissey.
Meanwhile, former Sligo Rovers midfielder Pascal Millien has signed for Finn Harps subject to the club receiving a work permit for the 30-year-old Haitian born attacking midfielder. Millien had been playing for Florida State club Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the North American Soccer League. The news was confirmed this morning by Harps manager Ollie Horgan who says Millien will provide invaluable extra cover and experience, that will be needed for the long season ahead.
“He will give us more options which will be needed for a long, tough season. He’s very experienced player and a big plus for us is that he knows the League of Ireland scene well having played two seasons with Sligo Rovers where he won a Premier Division medal and an FAI Cup title. Pascal is an attacking midfielder who can score goals. He is good at linking up with front men so hopefully he can strike up a good understanding with our forwards” Horgan said.
Finn Harps Secretary John Campbell said the completion of the Millien signing had been a slow process, which had taken a number of weeks to process because of the nature of the international transfer involved. “There was a hugely complicated piece of work involved in getting Pascal’s international clearance sorted. He still has to get a work permit here from the Department of Labour before he can play. Hopefully that can be sorted out quickly” Campbell said.
Millien featured seven times for Fort Lauderdale Strikers towards the end of last season having joined from another Florida State side Jacksonville Armada F.C. a club he played 37 times with in the previous campaign.
He made his debut for the full Haitian national team in 2006, aged 20. Millien enjoyed two successful seasons at Sligo Rovers winning the Premier Division League title in 2012 and the following year he helped them win the FAI Senior Cup. He made his Sligo debut on 20 April 2012, coming on as a second-half substitute in a league match against Cork City and went onto play 17 times scoring two goals.
Millien was born in Haiti, but moved to Lakeland, Florida as a teenager. He played his youth club soccer for HC United. He attended Auburndale High School where he scored a total of 114 goals in three seasons and was named 2005 Florida Gatorade Soccer Player of the Year. At the University of Tampa Millien contributed 25 goals and 30 assists in three seasons helping to lead the team to the NCAA Division II Final Four in 2008. As a result of his performances he was included on a number of representatives teams in those years.
During his college years Millien also played extensively in the USL Premier Development League, appearing for the Ajax Orlando Prospects, Bradenton Academics, Atlanta Silverbacks U23’s and Chicago Fire Premier. Pascal turned professional in 2010 when he signed a contract with the FC Tampa Bay making his professional debut on 16 April 2010, in Tampa’s first-ever game, a 1–0 victory over Crystal Palace in Baltimore. Millien scored his first professional goal on 22 May 2010 in Tampa’s 3–0 victory over A.C. St. Louis. He also played for Tampa the following season before joining Sligo Rovers in early 2012.
Pascal joined Bangladeshi side Sheikh Russel KC in February 2014. Bangladeshi football fans will remember him for his fantastic performances in the AFC President’s Cup 2014- a third tier international club football tournament in Asia. He scored twice and provided five assists in the same number of matches.
On January 29, 2015, Millien returned to the NASL signing with Jacksonville Armada FC ahead of their inaugural season and went on to play 37 times for them in that campaign before moving to Fort Lauderdale Strikers.
TEAM NEWS
Suspended:
Doubtful: Paddy McCourt, Barry Molloy, Danny Morrissey
Injured:
Unavailable:
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RECORD AGAINST ST. PATRICK’S ATHLETIC (All Competitions)
Tuesday’s game will be the 63rd meeting of the two clubs, and the 33rd to be played away for Harps.
Total Games: 62 (33 in Dublin)
Harps Wins: 18 (6 in Dublin)
St. Pat’s Wins: 31 (11 in Dublin)
Draws: 13 (6 in Dublin)
Harps Goals: 86 (43 in Dublin)
St. Pat’s Goals: 103 (67 in Dublin)
LAST 10 GAMES v ST. PATRICK’S ATHLETIC
08-Apr-05 St. Patrick’s Athletic 2-0 Finn Harps (Premier Division)
02-Jul-05 Finn Harps 0-2 St. Patrick’s Athletic (Premier Division)
30-Sep-05 St. Patrick’s Athletic 0-0 Finn Harps (Premier Division)
11-Apr-08 Finn Harps 0-3 St. Patrick’s Athletic (Premier Division)
06-Jul-08 St. Patrick’s Athletic 5-1 Finn Harps (Premier Division)
03-Oct-08 Finn Harps 0-1 St. Patrick’s Athletic (Premier Division)
05-Oct-14 St. Patrick’s Athletic 6-1 Finn Harps (FAI Cup)
11-Apr-16 Finn Harps 1-2 St. Patrick’s Athletic (Premier Division)
20-May-16 St. Patrick’s Athletic 4-0 Finn Harps (Premier Division)
11-Oct-16 Finn Harps 1-1 St. Patrick’s Athletic (Premier Division)
OUR LAST MEETING WITH ST. PATRICK’S ATHLETIC
11th October 2016. Finn Park. League of Ireland Premier Division.
Finn Harps 1 Sean Houston (92)
St. Patrick’s Athletic 1 Mark Timlin (64)
Finn Harps – Ciaran Gallagher; Ethan Boyle, Damien McNulty, Keith Cowan Ciaran Coll; Michael Funston, Barry Molloy, Gareth Harkin, Sean Houston, BJ Banda, Ryan Curran;. Subs: Packie Mailey for Cowan 60 mins, Tony McNamee for Banda 60 mins, Dave Scully for Molloy 76 mins St Patrick’s Athletic – Brendan Clarke; Ger O’Brien, Michael Barker, Darren Dennehy, Ian Bermingham; Conan Byrne, Mark Timlin Lee Desmond, Graham Kelly, Jamie McGrath; Christy Fagan. Subs: Billy Dennehy for Timlin 84 mins, Dinny Corcoran for Fagan 71 mins, Darragh Markey for McGrath 87 mins.
FINN HARPS GOALSCORERS 2017
Ciaran O’Connor – 2
Ethan Boyle – 1
Sean Houston – 1
FINN HARPS RESULTS 2017
Fri 24-Feb Finn Harps 0-1 Derry City
Fri 03-Mar Bray Wanderers 5–3 Finn Harps
Fri 10-Mar Finn Harps 1-1 Galway Utd
FINN HARPS REMAINING FIXTURES 2017
13-Mar, 7.45pm St Patrick’s Athletic v Finn Harps, Richmond Park
18-Mar, 2pm Limerick v Finn Harps, Market Field
21 Mar, 8pm Finn Harps v Cockhill Celtic, Finn Park
25-Mar, 7.45pm Finn Harps v Sligo Rovers, Finn Park
31-Mar, 8pm Shamrock Rovers v Finn Harps, Tallaght Stadium
07-Apr, 8pm Finn Harps v Dundalk, Finn Park
14-Apr, 7.45pm Derry City v Finn Harps, Maginn Park
21-Apr, 8pm Finn Harps v Drogheda United, Finn Park
28-Apr, 7.45pm Bohemian FC v Finn Harps, Dalymount Park
05-May, 7.45pm Cork City v Finn Harps, Turners Cross
12-May, 8pm Finn Harps v Bray Wanderers, Finn Park
19-May, 7.45pm Galway United v Finn Harps, Eamonn Deacy Park
22/23 May, 8pm Finn Harps v St Patrick’s Athletic, Finn Park
26-May, 8pm Finn Harps v Limerick, Finn Park
02-Jun, 7.45pm Sligo Rovers v Finn Harps, Showgrounds
16-Jun, 8pm Finn Harps v Shamrock Rovers, Finn Park
23-Jun, 7.45pm Dundalk v Finn Harps, Oriel Park
30-Jun, 8pm Finn Harps v Derry City, Finn Park
07-Jul, 7.45pm Drogheda United v Finn Harps, United Park
14-Jul, 8pm Finn Harps v Bohemian FC, Finn Park
21-Jul, 8pm Finn Harps v Cork City, Finn Park
28-Jul, 7.45pm Bray Wanderers v Finn Harps, Carlisle Grounds
04-Aug, 8pm Finn Harps v Galway United, Finn Park
18-Aug, 7.45pm St Patrick’s Athletic v Finn Harps, Richmond Park
02-Sep, 6.30pm Limerick v Finn Harps, Market Field
15-Sep, 8pm Finn Harps v Sligo Rovers, Finn Park
22-Sep, 8pm Shamrock Rovers v Finn Harps, Tallaght Stadium
07-Oct, 7.45pm Finn Harps v Dundalk, Finn Park
15-Oct, 2pm Derry City v Finn Harps, Maginn Park
20-Oct, 8pm Finn Harps v Drogheda United, Finn Park
27-Oct, 7.45pm Bohemian FC v Finn Harps, Dalymount Park
Compiled by Finn Harps Media Team, fhfcmedia@gmail.com
