Finn Harps manager Ollie Horgan will have to make changes to his starting 11 for the second round EA Sports Cup clash with Sligo Rovers in Ballybofey (kick-off 6pm) following the injuries sustained by Jonny Bonny, Barry Molloy and Paddy McCourt in Friday night’s league win over Derry City at Maginn Park. Strikers Ciaran O’Connor and Danny Morrissey have missed the last two games due to hamstring problems while Eddie Dsane didn’t feature against the Candystripes because of a back injury. Caolan McAleer misses the Sligo game due to suspension. Horgan also has an eye on next Friday night’s home Premier Division game against Drogheda United as he finalises his starting team for the Sligo game.
“Its looking like we will be down a lot of bodies for the game against Sligo Rovers. First of all Caolan McAleer is out because of a suspension. There was a big downside to the win over Derry because of the injuries picked up by Paddy McCourt, Barry Molloy and Jonny Bonner. Danny Morrissey and Ciaran O’Connor have been out for the past couple of weeks and Eddie Dsane couldn’t play on Friday night because of a back problem. There is also the league game to come against Drogheda next Friday night but we just have to get on with it. So there will be changes for the Sligo game and it is a chance for other players to come in and make a claim for regular places in the team,” Horgan said.
The Harps boss is expecting a very competitive game against Sligo where Declan McIntyre is now caretaker manager following the departure of Dave Robertson. McIntyre is a former Harps player and also had a goalkeeping coaching role at the Donegal club. Last month Harps snatched a big three points against Sligo in Ballybofey thanks to a very late Ciaran O’Connor goal. “Sligo will be coming to Ballybofey to win especially after the way they lost to us in the league game last month. So it’s going to be a real battle to get a win against them. They have a lot of really talented players so we need to be up for the challenge. With the injury list we have at the moment there will be changes and it’s up to the lads coming in to take their chance and give us a decent chance of getting through to the next round,” Horgan said.
TEAM NEWS
Suspended: Caolan McAleer
Injured: Ciaran O’Connor, Danny Morrissey, Jonny Bonner, Barry Molloy, Paddy McCourt, Eddie Dsane
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RECORD AGAINST SLIGO ROVERS (All Competitions)
Saturday’s game will be the 116th meeting of the two clubs
Total Games: 115 (61 at Finn Park)
Harps Wins: 47 (21 at Finn Park)
Rovers Wins: 38 (20 at Finn Park)
Draws: 30 (13 at Finn Park)
Harps Goals: 184 (104 at Finn Park)
Rovers Goals: 161 (79 at Finn Park)
LAST 10 GAMES v SLIGO ROVERS
07-May-07 Finn Harps 3-2 Sligo Rovers (League Cup)
25-Apr-08 Finn Harps 0-1 Sligo Rovers (Premier Division)
19-Jul-08 Sligo Rovers 4-1 Finn Harps (Premier Division)
17-Oct-08 Finn Harps 0-2 Sligo Rovers (Premier Division)
04-May-09 Sligo Rovers 4-1 Finn Harps (League Cup)
27-Aug-10 Finn Harps 0-1 Sligo Rovers (FAI Cup)
20-Mar-16 Sligo Rovers 1-1 Finn Harps (Premier Division)
03-Jun-16 Finn Harps 3-0 Sligo Rovers (Premier Division)
04-Oct-16 Sligo Rovers 0-0 Finn Harps (Premier Division)
25-Mar-17 Finn Harps 2-1 Sligo Rovers (Premier Division)
OUR LAST MEETING WITH SLIGO ROVERS
25th March 2017. Finn Park. SSE Airtricity Premier Division.
FINN HARPS 2 Kilian Cantwell (68), Ciaran O Connor (94)
SLIGO ROVERS 1 Raffaele Cretaro (59)
Finn Harps – Ciaran Gallagher; Damian McNulty (Eddie Dsane 66), Ciaran Coll, Kilian Cantwell, Gareth Harkin; Caolan McAleer, Ethan Boyle, Jonny Bonner, Sean Houston, Danny Morrisey (Michael Funston 90+5); Ciaran O’Connor. Not used: B.J. Banda, Simon McGlynn, Packie Mailey, Tommy McMonagle, Harry Doherty (Gk).
Sligo Rovers – Micheál Schlingermann; Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, Mick Leahy, Kyle Callan-McFadden, Liam Martin; John Russell, Chris Kenny, Craig Roddan, Kieran Sadlier; Jonah Ayunga (Mathew Stevens 71), Raffaele Cretaro (Mikey Place 86).
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FINN HARPS GOALSCORERS 2017 (All competitions)
Ciaran O’Connor – 4
Sean Houston – 4 (1 EA Sports Cup)
Jonny Bonner – 2 (2 EA Sports Cup)
Ethan Boyle – 1
Kilian Cantwell – 1
Caolan McAleer – 1
Paddy McCourt – 1
BJ Banda – 1
Michael Funston – 1
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FINN HARPS RESULTS 2017
Fri 24-Feb Finn Harps 0-1 Cork City
Fri 03-Mar Bray Wanderers 5–3 Finn Harps
Fri 10-Mar Finn Harps 1-1 Galway Utd
Mon 13-Mar St. Patrick’s Athletic 1-2 Finn Harps
Sat 18-Mar Limerick 1-1 Finn Harps
Sat 25-Mar Finn Harps 2-1 Sligo Rovers
Fri 31-Mar Shamrock Rovers 3-2 Finn Harps
Mon 03-Apr Finn Harps 3-1 Cockhill Celtic (EA Sports Cup)
Fri 07-Apr Finn Harps 0-2 Dundalk
Fri 14-Apr Derry City 0-2 Finn Harps
FINN HARPS REMAINING FIXTURES 2017
16-Apr, 6pm Finn Harps v Sligo Rovers, Finn Park (EA Sports Cup)
21-Apr, 8pm Finn Harps v Drogheda United, Finn Park
28-Apr, 7.45pm Bohemians 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
