Finn Harps somehow pulled a point from the fire against St Patrick's Athletic with two late goals in the most dramatic of conclusions at Finn Park.
With three minutes to play, the Inchicore side were two up with Billy King having scored one in each half and were in absolute control having made a quadruple substitution. Some of the home support were even heading off to beat the queues.
However, substitute José Carrillo pulled one back on 87 minutes and the entire atmosphere changed. Then, from a late onslaught, Ethan Boyle bundled in a 96th minute equaliser following a Regan Donelon corner. Tim Clancy would have been pulling his fair out.
Having conceded twice in the opening seven minutes of their 3-0 loss at Sligo Rovers last Saturday, Harps were one down in six. Mark Doyle took advantage of a slip by Boyle on the Harps right to get to the byline and pull back for the inrushing King, who steered first time past Gavin Mulreany in the Harps goal.
Mulreany was making only his second appearance for Harps having got the nod ahead of Mark Anthony McGinley, while Dylan Duncan, the former Tottenham Hotspur player who signed last week, was in for a first start in central midfield. Had it not been for Mulreany, the match would have been over way before people thought it actually was.
In only the second minute, Mulreany had to scamper from his line to make himself big and save from Darragh Burns as the home defence was sliced open. From the corner by Chris Forrester, 16-year-old Sam Curtis got a good headed connection only to see it wizz over the crossbar.
Harps’ main source of giving their opponents bother came from Boyle’s long throw-ins, although Rob Slevin, from an Eric McWoods flick-on, failed to get enough power to overly disturb Joseph Anang.
On another occasion, the visiting netminder came from his line and missed a punch on a Boyle throw, with the Harps defender clipping the ball back in only for St Pat’s to uncomfortably clear.
There was a bit of bite and when things got unsettled, it suited the locals, whereas when the play settled, it was the Richmond Park outfit who looked by far the more capable. They carved themselves another chance on 34 minutes, with Mulreany again doing well, this time with an outstretched foot, to stop from Eoin Doyle after Adam O’Reilly’s delightful through ball.
Ollie Horgan, the Harps manager, was unhappy with a couple of calls and ended up getting a yellow card from referee John McLaughlin. If you’ve been living under a rock for five years, there has been a pandemic, Mayo still haven’t won the All-Ireland since 1951 and Horgan is still in the wars with officials.
Clancy, on the other hand, might have been justified to ask how Élie N'Zeyi didn’t pick up a second yellow card of the half for clattering Forrester.
At the start of part two, Mulreany again kept Harps in the game with another stop from another Eoin Doyle effort from close range, with Burns again the architect.
The second goal from King, who weaved his way across the front of the Harps defence on 64 minutes before unleashing a stinging shot into the bottom corner from 20 yards, was no more than St Pat’s deserved. It would have settled any nerves that were understandably building up.
Eoin Doyle was again out of luck when he couldn’t keep down a driven centre from Anto Breslin, with the former Bolton frontman having scored in both this season’s previous meetings. It seemed irrelevant.
There was a worry for St Pat’s late on with Curtis stretchered from the field and three minutes from time Harps substitute Carrillo tucked home a goal to give Harps an unlikely chance, with a close range finish after Eric McWoods has steered a free from Barry McNamee back across goal.
Then, with Harps pushing all they had and their goalkeeper up for the corner, St Pat’s struggled to clear and Boyle got the final touch to seal the most unlikely point you could ever imagine.
Finn Harps: Gavin Mulreany; Ethan Boyle, Conor Tourish, Rob Slevin, Regan Donelon; Dylan Duncan (Mark Timlin 63), Élie N'Zeyi (José Carrillo 72); Ryan Rainey, Barry McNamee (Yoyo Mahdy 90+2), Filip Mihaljević (Luke Rudden 72); Eric McWoods.
St Patrick's Athletic: Joseph Annang; Sam Curtis (James Abankwah 83), Joe Redmond, Tom Grivosti, Anto Breslin; Chris Forrester (Jason McClelland 83), Adam O'Reilly, Billy King (Ben McCormack, 59); Darragh Burns, Eoin Doyle (Kyle Robinson 83), Mark Doyle.
Referee: John McLaughlin.
