Longford Town........0

Finn Harps...............0

FINN Harps chalked up an away point on Saturday night in a boring nil-all draw with fellow First Division strugglers Longford Town at Flancare Park.

Anthony Fennelly in the Longford goal and his Harps counterpart Ciaran Gallagher had trouble-free evenings at their respective offices with neither side capable of manufacturing a clear-cut chance or force the opposition 'keeper into action.

It was a night when the sides demonstrated, in front of a disappointing attendance on a glorious evening in the Midlands, just why they find themselves cut adrift from the leading pack in the Division and why a long and arduous season appears in waiting.

Longford, FAI Cup winners a mere 18 months ago, are a long way off the dizzy heights of Cup Final Sundays these days. Last weekend, the Strokestown Road based club parted ways with boss Alan Gough after a two-nil defeat against Monaghan with Philip Coffee in stand-in duty in the home dugout for Saturday's clash.

Harps' caretaker manager James Gallagher, meanwhile, was looking for a second win on the trot following a rare victory over Kildare a week earlier.

Against the only other side they have beaten in the League this term, Longford, Gallagher was able to welcome Michael Funston back from suspension in the engime room. However, Harps were without Marc Mukendi, who missed a return from suspension because of injury while leading goalscorer Conor Gethins was another absentee from the starting line-up.

It was the home team who had the first chance of note just four minutes in when midfielder Jason McCartney fired over the bar from 15 yards. Harps did get going and Fennelly was called into a rare piece of action when he saved a free-kick from Brolly before a superb saving tackle from Stephen Gough denied Christy Connaghan as the winger sped for goal.

The hosts enjoyed the bulk of the possession but they struggled to create anything of note and the interval came and went without a hint of excitement on a baking hot evening.

Just after the hour mark, central defender Patrick Mailey came close for the Donegal side, but his header had too much elevation, while Connaghan had another chance, this one which he fired into the arms of goalkeeper Fennelly.

Town had a good chance to force the breakthrough when McCartney centred from the left to Darragh Concannon in space, but with all the time in the world to pick his spot the midfielder blazed wastefully over the Harps crossbar.

Colm Jinks also rose his effort too much while at the other end winger Marc Brolly's effort had a similar end result.

Right at the end, Harps could have been sunk with a sucker-punch, but former Galway frontman Derek Glynn got his wires horribly crossed when he was presented with a glorious opportunity at point-blank range. Glynn mis-kicked the ball and the chance was gone, along with the opportunity to win it and in the end the sides were to settle for a share of the spoils.

This weekend, it's Mervue United for Harps at home before Galway United visit for the FAI Cup clash a week later. There follows testing games against three of the top four - UCD, Sporting Fingal and Waterford United - for the Ballybofey blues.