Finn Harps and Derry City played out a 0-0 stalemate in the first leg of the eircom League Promotion/Relegation final tonight, but the major talking point came near the death as referee Eddie Barr blew for full time with two minutes of normal time remaining.
A deflected Damien Whitehead effort with six minutes remaining was undoubtedly the best chance that fell to either side, but both will have to search again for that vital first goal in Saturday night's second leg at the Brandywell.
Derry started stronger with a 10th minute chance for Gareth McGlynn, replacing the suspended Ciaran Martyn, and defender Robbie Hedderman's 35-yard half volley almost catching out Gary Ramsey in the Harps goal on 27 minutes. However, the home side took a stranglehold on possession soon after and put their Premier Division opponents under intense pressure.
With Paddy McGrenaghan and Niall Bonner finding joy out wide, Harps saw Kevin McHugh shoot over from a Jonathan Minnock lay-off on 20 minutes and Bonner almost nipped in ahead of Paddy McLaughlin in the Derry box in the 32nd minute, following a mistake by City's Peter Hutton.
Almost immediately, City hit back with a chance for Gary Beckett but with the goal in the striker's sights, Declan Boyle slipped in with a great block tackle. The majority of a vocal 6,500 attendance in Finn Park had a penalty claim for Harps waved away by referee Barr two minutes before the break when Hutton was adjudged to have tackled the advancing Damien Whitehead fairly.
Mark Farren, the Derry hat trick hero of last weekend's 4-0 semi-final success over Limerick, saw little of the ball in the opening exchanges and it continued to be the case in the second half.
Five minutes after the restart McHugh, scorer of 18 goals this season, pulled his effort across the face of Alan Gough's goal, quickly followed by a cracking shot from Niall Bonner which flashed past Gough's left upright.
City boss Gavin Dykes brought young midfielder Gerry Gill on for McGlynn with twenty minutes remaining and, with McHugh and Whitehead tiring up front for Harps, Derry came more and more into the game. On 79 minutes the Candystripes could have gone in front had Boyle once again not made a vital recovery tackle on Farren, when the 21-year-old striker was put through, albeit at a tight angle.
Suddenly, after a period of dour play, the game opened up again and with Donal O'Brien lurking and perhaps better positioned at the far post, an in-swinging corner from the left side fell to Whitehead but the English striker, a scorer against Bray in the semi-final, watched in horror as his effort flashed wide with most of the goal within range.
There was further drama as referee Barr blew up with two full minutes of normal time remaining. With three substitutes having been made in the second half, there was at least one-and-a-half minutes of time to be added on, and Harps manager Noel King was furious at the finish.
He said: "There was a clear two minutes left to play, plus four minutes of injury time," he stated. "Anything could have happened in that time, I'm very annoyed at what has happened to us here." The Dubliner announced that the only thing his side have to fear at the Brandywell on Saturday are 'non-footballing matters'.
His opposite number, Gavin Dykes, expressed his satisfaction with the 0-0 result. "Let's see what Harps are made of when they come to our place on Saturday. We're very happy. We were missing some of our better players out there tonight and we'll see how good they are when they face up to us again in three days' time," he said.
Filed by Mark O'Neill-Cummins
