BY MATTHEW WILSON

FINN Harps winger Idir Zerrouk is enjoying his new life in Ballybofey and hopes the team can continue to push forward in order to achieve their objectives as we enter the final third of the First Division season.

Finn Harps shared the spoils with Cobh Ramblers in their most recent outing last Friday night with a goal from captain Tony McNamee midway through the second stanza earning them a well-deserved point against the Cork outfit.

Zerrouk stated that in the grand scheme of things, given that their opponents are sitting in a strong position in the First Division table, a point is a good outcome but feels that all three were on offer for the side at Finn Park.

“Coming into the game and seeing that Cobh were second place, you would say that one point is good. But considering our performance last week, I think me and the rest of the team thought that we should’ve gone away with three points.”

“It was a bit of a rough first half, the effort collectively wasn’t as high as it should be. Obviously we brought it back in the second half to make it 2-2. We tried to get the three points but unfortunately we didn’t get it. A point is better than none but obviously we wanted three.”

It was a battling performance from Kevin McHugh’s men, coming from behind twice to leave Finn Park with a point against the St Coleman Park residents.

Following a somewhat flat first half-performance, the Twin Towns side came out after the break on the front foot and as the contest grew older they looked like the most likely to grab a potential winner.

Zerrouk discussed that a talk with the manager at the break made the difference and helped the side to push on after the restart.

“I think that was just sitting down at half-time and talking to the coach. It was about why the effort wasn’t as good as it was last week, we know what we’re capable of and just had to back that up on the pitch. Once we did, we turned the tide of the game and we brought it towards our favour.”

Idir is a recent arrival at Finn Park, joining the club at the start of the month following a successful trial period.

The 24-year-old has been located in Germany over the last couple of years prior to his move to Navenny Street, playing at BW Friesdorf, Frechen 20 and Siegburger SV.

His transition into the Finn Harps setup has been seamless and he’s really enjoyed the start of his new life in Donegal.

“I’m settling in very well with the club. Everyone’s been super kind to me, everything has been smooth. The transition over from playing in Germany to playing here was very nice as well.”

“As with living here, I’m really loving the town. People say that it might be a bit of a quiet town but I’m all for that, it lets me focus on the things I need to focus on. I’m liking it so far.”

As well as enjoying his new beginnings off the pitch, Zerrouk has hit the ground running on it also.

The Canadian produced a man of the match performance on his home debut against UCD last week, bagging two assists, while also playing a key role in both goals against Cobh last Friday.

“I’m just glad that I can be a part of the team and try to help them out. We have objectives this season, we have team objectives and I’ve objectives and I’ll do everything I can to try to hit them for myself and the team.”

Kevin McHugh’s troops face an important week ahead with three matches in the space of seven days. This begins with a long trip south on Friday to face Wexford FC before further fixtures against Bray Wanderers and Kerry FC on Monday and the following Friday.

Sitting ten points adrift of Treaty United who occupy the last of the play-off spots, Finn Harps face an uphill battle to close this gap and the next seven days could go a long way to determining the fate for the remainder of their season.

The new signing stated that it’s a big week ahead for the team. They’re viewing it as a mini league and are hoping to come away with as many points as possible to keep their play-off ambitions alive.

“It’s a big week. We’ve already been talking about it, we’re taking it as it goes. We’re considering it like a mini league, we have these three games coming up on the Friday, Monday and Friday so we’re going to try and come away with as many points as we can.”