BY MATTHEW WILSON
FINN Harps’ Max Hutchinson is hopeful that they can get back to winning ways this Friday when they make the long trip to Kerry in the League of Ireland First Division.
Finn Harps were in action last Friday evening when they hosted Bray Wanderers in the FAI Cup in Ballybofey.
As the clock entered red at Finn Park, the sides remained level at 0-0 and it looked like extra-time was going to be required to determine who would progress to the last 16.
However, a last-gasp goal from Conor Knight sealed the win for the visiting outfit and Hutchinson described it as a difficult one to take.
“It’s obviously a tough pill to swallow. We felt like we were going to win the game, we changed formation towards the end thinking that we were going to win.
“We can’t be too disheartened about it because Bray Wanderers are a very good side. They beat UCD 6-0 the week before so to take them to that point, the goal came in the 93rd minute.
“To take them that far and think that we could’ve won the game, it’s a positive for us but it’s disappointing in the end with the result because that’s what the business is.”
It was an eventful beginning to the evening for Hutchinson as he was drafted into the starting line-up at the eleventh hour.
Finn Harps centre-back Conor Tourish suffered an injury in the warm-up for the cup clash against the Wicklow side and the Englishman came in to take his place.
Shifting your mindset this shortly before kick-off can be a challenging process but Hutchinson performed very well alongside Joel Bradley-Walsh at the heart of the defence.
Speaking to the Donegal News. he expressed that it’s important to remain professional about these scenarios as a footballer.
“In football anything can happen, you just have to be professional about it. Unfortunately Conor (Tourish) got injured in the warm-up and you just always have to be ready.
“You never know if you’re coming on in five minutes or 90 minutes, it just happened to be before the game.
“It’s not difficult but it’s strange because you only have 15 minutes to get your head around the fact that you’re starting instead of two hours before but you just have to be professional about it.”
Following the early cup exit last week, the Navenny Street club’s sole focus for the remainder of the 2026 campaign will be fixed firmly on the First Division.
The shift in attention towards the FAI Cup may have been a good distraction for the side off the back of a challenging time in the league, finding themselves at the bottom of the table.
However, with one competition to concentrate on for the rest of the season, the 25-year-old is hopeful that they can record a few wins to move them up the league ladder.
“Yeah, all attention turns back to the league now. Obviously we’ve not been doing too well in the league compared to how we want to be doing.
“We’re still close enough that if we have a few good games and get a couple of good wins then we will be back up there (in the mix for the play-offs).”
The Finn Park residents return to First Division action this Friday evening when they make the long trip to Mounthawk Park for a meeting with Kerry FC.
Kevin McHugh’s men have experienced mixed fortunes in their pair of contests against the Munster outfit this term.
Colin Healy’s outfit secured a narrow 1-0 win over Finn Harps on their last trip to the Tralee venue back in March.
Meanwhile, a late header from Hutchinson earned the Navenny Street club the three points in their meeting at Finn Park in May.
The gap between Finn Harps and the play-off places currently sits at nine points and they will not want this increasing any further by full-time on Friday.
A victory could help to send McHugh’s charges on the right path and the Englishman is hoping that they can get back to winning ways when they face the Kerry side.
“It’s never easy going away to the likes of Cork, Cobh or Kerry but it’s just something that we’re used to doing all of the travelling with.
“It’s no real excuse at the end of the day even though we could throw it out there. We know it won’t be an easy game but we just have to forget about what happened in the cup and focus on the league.”
“We just have to try to get back to winning ways, that is all that we are thinking about. We know that they are going to be a decent side, it won’t be easy but it should be a good game.”