IF, to everyone in Dundalk, the First Division seems like a largely unknown and dangerous wasteland, the players and officials of Finn Harps, who only escaped it last season, remember only too well just why it is to be avoided.
The Donegalmen's desperation to steer clear of a return to their long time stomping ground was clear yesterday at Richmond Park, where they came looking for a win, attempted to settle for a draw but ultimately left with nothing. But equally clear was their continued inability to halt a slide that began way back in November.
Since beating Sligo away midway through that month, they have scored just two league victories, both over bottom team Home Farm. And though they took the lead in this game through James Mulligan after just three minutes, there seemed little reason to believe that they could transform the early advantage into points.
The Dubliners, on the other hand, whose form at Inchicore had provided the backbone of their title winning campaign, had not won on home soil since before Christmas. From the ninth minute, though, when Darren Nash saved well from Johnny Glynn, only to see Ricky O'Flaherty step up to head the loose ball home from a yard out, they always looked the more likely to end their run by finding the net again.
Given that injuries forced manager Pat Dolan into including four strikers in the starting line up, that to some extent, was unsurprising, and Charlie McGeever will surely be more concerned if his side were to create so few chances in the three home matches to come. But with such talented players as Jonathan, Speak an Mulligan up front it must be frustrating for him at the best of times.
Throughout the first period the pair had to forage deep into their half in search of possession, and as a result both found it difficult to cause genuine problems when they did see the ball.
Mulligan's goal, however, was an impressive exception the former Sligo player picked up the ball - well outside the area, fed Gary Heaney down - the right and latched onto the return inside the six yard box from where he squeezed the ball home.
As the game went on and the visitors began to make more of an impression down the wings, the problem shifted to the pair's lack of physical stature; Mulligan, in particular, was repeatedly deprived of possession by the height, all five feet 10 inches of it, of Packie Lynch, who turned in an impressive display.
His success in the air should have provided the basis for the hosts to build from the back, but in fact it was from set pieces that the Dubliners seemed to pose their greatest danger. Eddie Gormley's free in the 70th minute was well saved by Nash, but neither the goalkeeper nor his defence looked at all happy under the many corners they conceded.
The pressure mounted on McGeever's side throughout the closing stages, and in the 81st minute his men caved into it when Martin Reilly gave Stuart Gauld and Heaney the slip out wide on the left. From there he pulled the ball back a couple of yards and, from a position where only a cross seemed possible, curled the ball into the top right corner for a winner that keeps his side's hopes, however faint, of a place in Europe alive while further edging a reluctant Harps towards a sentimental journey.
