Finn Harps will set off on this Saturday morning making the long journey south to take on Cobh Ramblers in the League of Ireland First Division (kick-off 7.45). That’s going to test the players even before they get out on the field at St. Colman’s Park. And the hosts have made a good start to the campaign with a draw and a win.
Harps finally got their season up and running on Friday night with that 1-1 draw with Shelbourne at Finn Park. Manager Ollie Horgan expects to have Paddy McCourt back after he was ruled out of Monday’s EA Sports Cup game due to injury while new signing Eric Whelan may be included in the match day squad if he can prove his fitness following treatment for a groin strain. However, Gareth Harkin is out due to a knee problem.
Horgan is also unsure of the availability of a couple of players who are experiencing difficulty getting off work to travel to Cobh.
Harps will be looking for at least a draw against Cobh in order to keep in touch with the early pacesetters in Division 1. Manager Horgan says that getting anything out of St. Colman’s Park on Saturday evening will require a very disciplined performance from his players. “Cobh have made a good start to the league with a draw up in Longford and a win last weekend against Cabinteely. Dave Henderson and Stuart Ashton have done a good job there. They finished third in the First Division two years ago and second last year so that shows the calibre of the squad that Dave and Stuart have put together. It’s a young team who have lots of energy and are very committed. It has been a gradual development over the past couple of years and I think they will be challenging for promotion again this season. They will be looking to push on with another three points on Saturday night. Paul Hunt is a very good goalkeeper. Anthony McAlavey and Darren Murphy are two talented lads in midfield. We’re going to have improve a lot on our performance against Shelbourne and if we defend like we did against Mayo on Monday then it will be a long night for us. The lads know that conceding three goals like that is unacceptable so we will want to see a vast improvement defensively against Cobh. We’re also have to be ruthless with any chances we get as they are good all over the park” Horgan said.
Injured: Gareth Harkin
Doubtful: Eric Whelan
Suspended: None
