Youngster Stephan Negru makes his mark as Shels come from behind

Finn Harps 1
Shelbourne 1

Alan Foley reports from Finn Park

AFTER A FIRST half devoid of incident, Conor Tourish put Finn Harps in front on 52 minutes, only for Shelbourne to get back on terms within five minutes thanks to Stephan Negru on his full league debut.

From then on anyone could’ve won it, although the share of the spoils was perhaps fair and coupled with with UCD’s 1-0 loss at Bohemians, it meant Ollie Horgan’s side move up to ninth – although they know there’s a lot of football to be played in the final five league games.

Harps lost their energy up top when Eric McWoods hobbled off to be replaced by Filip Mihaljević just 14 minutes in. By then, neither goalkeeper was tested, although Matty Smith did fizz an early one over for the visitors.

Shelbourne saw Gavin Hodgins pull up and he, too, was unable to continue with Dan Carr coming in. Bar that, the fact two substitutions were the talking point of the first half tells a story in itself.

From the start of the second half though, there was more impetus shown from both parties, with Matty Smith putting a dangerous ball across the Harps six-yard box with no takers.

Harps' Barry McNamee (left) with Shelbourne's Aodh Dervin. Evan Logan / INPHO Evan Logan / INPHO / INPHO

Seven minutes into the second half, the deadlock was finally breached with Tourish glancing past Brendan Clarke in a crowded penalty area, with Barry McNamee having delivered following a short corner by Ryan Connolly. The kick was awarded after an awkward clearance from Luke Byrne over his own crossbar.

However, once they conceded Shelbourne went on the front foot, with Josh Giurgi in particular causing the Harps defence trouble. It was Giurgi’s corner on 57 minutes that was met by Negru and although goalkeeper James McKeown got plenty of glove on it, he couldn’t prevent it going home.

Eight minutes later, McKeown made a decent stop from Carr’s downward header with the contest almost unrecognisable from the first half fare. Substitute Robert Jones thought he’d headed the hosts in front only for Clarke to make a brilliant save to claw it away from the top corner.

Matty Smith takes a shot. Evan Logan / INPHO Evan Logan / INPHO / INPHO

At the other end, another replacement, Sean Boyd of Shelbourne, got onto the end of a Matty Smith pass but could only dig his dink into the side-netting. And just as the fourth official Rob Harvey’s board went up to indicate three minutes of injury time, Boyd saw a gap but his shot was kept out by McKeown’s outstretched leg.

Finn Harps: James McKeown; Conor Tourish (Jose Carillo 79) Liam McGing, Rob Slevin; Ethan Boyle, Gary Boylan, Ryan Connolloy, Regan Donelon; Barry McNamee, Jaime Siaj (Robert Jones 74); Eric McWoods (Filip Mihaljević 14).

Shelbourne: Brendan Clarke; Stephan Negru, Luke Byrne, Shane Griffin (Kameron Ledwidge 63); John Ross Wilson, Aodh Dervin (JJ Lunney 63), Gavin Molloy, Shane Farrell; Matty Smith; Gavin Hodgins (Dan Carr 29), Josh Giurgi (Sean Boyd 77).

Referee: Adriano Reale.