Bragging rights for Harps as ‘Well lose to rivals

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BOYNE Harps bounced back in style from their defeat by lowly Rock the week before as Sunday’s derby victory boosted their survival prospects and dealt a huge blow to Newfoundwell’s title aspirations.

In blustery conditions it was always going to be important to be up for the fight, and from the kick-off it was clear that the whole Harps squad were hungry for a big scalp as they repeated won the 50/50 tackles.

Ian Devine, who signed for Harps from the ‘Well on transfer deadline day a couple of weeks ago, had two early chances on his debut, with one flying just over the bar and the other bouncing wide.

For the ‘Well, Stephen Murphy completely failed to connect with a close-range header from a Karl Brannigan corner, and Craig O’Connor fizzed a cross across the area with just too much pace on it for Ciaran Carroll to get a decisive touch.

The breakthrough for Shane Gregory’s side arrived on the half-hour mark when Conor Healy stepped forward from the rightback position and unleashed a sweet 30-yard strike to the top corner of the ‘Well net, deceiving goalkeeper Bryan Smith.

There was little sign of a response from the title hopefuls in the remainder of the first half, but on the restart they did push hard for an equaliser, helped by the strong wind at their backs.

However, the tactic of launching long balls on top of the Harps back four didn’t pay dividends as the defence stood strong and veteran Harps goalkeeper Jason Lowney made a few great catches under pressure.

Then came another blow for the ‘Well on 75 minutes as their neighbours stunned them with a second goal.

There was great work initially by Steven Carter to win possession back on the edge of his own penalty area, and he quickly turned defence into attack.

After linking up with Devine and Ryan Connor, the ball was returned to the feet of Carter and his low shot took a horrid bounce off the surface and looped over the stranded Smith.

Danny Gartland’s charges pushed again in the hope of pulling a goal back to set up a grandstand finish, committing an extra man to attack with he introduction of Brian Kermode off the bench, and they did create a couple of half-openings.

However, Harps remained a big threat on the counter-attack and in the end they were deserving winners, with Healy, James Traynor and Danny Coyle their best players in an excellent team performance.

This result goes a long way towards securing Premier Division football for Harps, while the one consolation for Newfoundwell is that the two teams above them in the table, Navan Cosmos and Muirhevnamor, still have to play each other twice. The first of those top-of-the-table clashes takes place this Wednesday evening.

However, the ‘Well now have little room for error after their weekend setback.

Bryan Smith, Gaz Smith (Brian Kermode), Daryl McDonagh (Roy Kierans), Kevin Bull, Stephen Nurjpy, Dean Carolan, Tom Reilly, Craig O’Connor, Karl Brannigan (Dale Harding), Martin Kelly (Jordan Duffy), Ciaran Carroll.

Jay Lowney, Conor Healy, Anto McGuinness, Shane Walsh, James Traynor, Danny Coyle, Jonathan Deegan, Ryan Connor, Richard Gibney, Steven Carter, Ian Devine. Subs: Bernard Osborne, Leon Campbell, James Guilfoyle, Garry Bedford.