MU20: Dundalk FC 2-3 Finn Harps

Dundalk FC U20s suffered their first defeat of the season as Finn Harps claimed a 3-2 win in an entertaining contest.

The hosts made a bright start and took a deserved lead inside the opening ten minutes. TJ Molloy-Murphy did well down the wing before cutting the ball back for Aaron Keogh, who finished smartly to cap off an excellent team move.

Dundalk continued to look dangerous in the final third and came close to adding a second when Matthew McCloskey was played clean through, only for the Finn Harps goalkeeper to make a fine save. Despite that positive spell, the visitors drew level ten minutes before the break with a goal from a set piece, an area Dundalk had been aware of against a strong Finn Harps side.

Level at 1-1 at half-time, the second half remained evenly balanced. Finn Harps went in front when Marcel, a 2010-born goalkeeper making his first appearance for the U20s, got a hand to a shot and tipped it onto the post, but the rebound fell kindly for a Harps striker to finish.

The visitors then extended their lead on the counter-attack from a Dundalk corner, leaving the home side with plenty to do. To their credit, Dundalk responded well and pulled a goal back when Shane Tracey produced a superb pass in behind the Finn Harps defence for Max Ferguson, who finished clinically to make it 3-2.

That set up a tense finish, with Dundalk pushing hard in the final 10 to 15 minutes in search of an equaliser, and they were unfortunate not to find one on a couple of occasions.

After the game, manager Shane Grimes admitted there was disappointment in the camp but felt there were still positives to take from the performance: “We are disappointed, of course. It’s our first defeat of the season,” he said. “We started well, but Finn Harps are a very good side and we made it too easy for them at times. Looking back, it was a decent performance with good quality in it, but we can’t get away with errors at this level. That said, the beauty of football is that we are already looking forward to the next game against Drogheda to try and put things right.”

Dundalk FC: Gora, O’Hare, Spaight, Nnaji, Casey, Murphy, McCloskey, Tracey, Ferguson, Keogh, Molloy-Murphy.

Subs: Woods, Agnew, Wadon, C. O’Leary, Vocella, O. O’Leary.