Finn Harps manager Ollie Horgan
Drogheda United 2-1 Finn Harps
TEN-MAN Finn Harps fell to their first defeat of the season tonight as they lost out to Drogheda at United Park.
Harps had a penalty appeal turned down in the 14th minute when Ciaran O’Connor went over in the box.
The home side were then awarded a spot-kick 12 minutes later, when Gareth McCaffrey’s shot was stopped by Keith Cowan. The referee adjudged that the Ramelton man handled the ball, and sent him off.
MacCaffrey slipped when hitting the penalty but the ball still hit the net. Drogheda doubled their lead eight minutes later when Richard Purdy scored.
Harps did have a great chance to pull a goal back just before the break, but Michael O’Connor fired over when it appeared easier to score.
The visitors had opportunities to score in the second half, but Adam Duffy’s effort went wide, while Mark Hannon’s shot was blocked after rounding the Drogheda goalkeeper.
John O’Flynn did find the net in injury-time, but it wasn’t enough, and Drogheda moved to the top of the First Division with the victory.
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Good win for Harps