CORK CITY.....1
FINN HARPS...1
FINN Harps had to settle for a precious away point but it could so easily have been all three when they drew 1-1 with Setanta Cup semi-finalists, Cork City at Turner's Cross over the weekend.
Paul Hegarty held his head in anguish on the touchline in added time after Conor Gethins' header dipped inches wide of Mark McNulty's goal after Harps had hit back from a goal down at half-time.
Lawrie Dudfield, the ex-Notts County man, gave City the lead with his fourth goal in four consecutive league games when he netted from Joe Gamble's precision pass after 20 minutes.
Darragh Ryan crashed a 30-yard volley off the crossbar after taking the ball down on his chest after 34 minutes but Harps survived to the break just a goal in arrears and proved to be Cork's undoing in the second half.
Alan O'Connor and Liam Kearney missed good chances for the home team early in the second half but a vastly improved Harps side deservedly drew level mid-way through the second half.
Darragh Ryan was adjudged to have handled the ball from a throw-in in the 65th minute and Neil McCafferty stepped up to send McNulty the wrong way from 12 yards.
"I was a bit disappointed there with the second half that we didn't get a winner. We played really well in the second period and we created a few chances but I think we were lucky to be just the one goal down at the break," said Harps boss Hegarty afterwards.
"We didn't play well in the first half at all and I think we looked a bit nervy at times. I felt we were far better in the second half and we played some good football and got back into the match."
Both teams came into the tie with two wins from their previous six outings but Cork were missing four key men because of match bans.
Danny Murphy, Colin Healy, Denhis Behan and skipper Dan Murray were all serving one-match bans while Cillian Lordan was out with a knee ligament injuyr and first choice 'keeper Mick Devine was ruled out with concussion. Harps had Stephen Parkhouse on the bench at kick-off but Jonathan Minnock was sidelined with a groin strain.
"We deserved to get an equaliser and we probably could have had all three points there at the finish with Conor Gethins' header at dropped just wide. I thought it was in to be honest," said Hegarty after Harps picked up their first away point from a top six club all season.
"It's going to go to the wire and it looks now as if it will go to the last game of the season. No matter what happened over the weekend, it's still in our own hands and we have four matches and that's probably all we can ask for.
"I am always confident and I always feel every week that we are going to win matches but that doesn't say we win them. We had much the better of the second half in Cork and I feel a draw over the 90 minutes was a fair result," he added.
"We haven't had a result like this in Cork for a long, long time and that's the first point we have taken off the top six all year. All in all, it wasn't a bad night's work but we know there's more in us.
"We looked like we are a bit in awe of Cork at the start of the game, maybe, we were a little afraid given the situation we are in but we did well to get back and get a draw. We played with more freedom in the second half and we played much better football.
"We said at half-time that we had nothing to lose but we just had to go and play because at 1-0 there was nothing in the game.
"I told them that if we kept playing the way we were, we'd lose the match and we had to buck up, show a bit of character, get on the ball and play a bit of football and we did exactly that after the break. We were a different team in the second half and we deserved our point."
