Soccer

Kevin McHugh and Keith Cowan are ruled out of Finn Harps' run-in

Keith Cowan will miss the end of Finn Harps' season  
Keith Cowan will miss the end of Finn Harps' season   Keith Cowan will miss the end of Finn Harps' season  

TWO freak accidents have robbed Finn Harps of two key players, Keith Cowan and club captain Kevin McHugh, for the vital run-in as they bid to ensure their League of Ireland Premier Division status.

The Donegal club makes the long trek south this evening to take on a Cork City outfit that still hold title ambitions despite losing 2-1 to champions Dundalk in the midweek clash of the top two.

Centre-half Cowan is out for the rest of the season with a bad knee injury after falling awkwardly against St. Patrick’s Athletic on Tuesday: “It’s a big loss, he has been one of our most dependable players,” boss Ollie Horgan lamented.

Several days earlier striker McHugh was forced to call it a day on his career after a severe injury to his wedding finger after it got caught on a fence during a coaching session. After 483 appearances for the club, it was a sad way to bow out without having a final run-out.

While the 36-year-old’s involvement this season was restricted, he was still deployed occasionally as an “impact sub” and certainly would be involved in the squad tonight if he was available.

Harps have just two games to go after tonight’s clash and lie nine points ahead of Wexford Youths, who will have three games left. Their game in hand is away to Cork, so the odds are very much on Wexford finishing in the relegation play-off position with Longford Town set to be the side automatically relegated.

Friday night’s game will be Harps’ fifth fixture in the space of 14 games, and Horgan – who has signed a new contract to the end of 2017 - will once again have to look at a few fringe team players.

Striker Ruairi Keating is definitely out while Sean Houston, Adam Hanlon and Barry Molloy are major concerns. Teenagers BJ Banda and Mark Coyle may both be named on the bench with Dave Scully possibly getting the nod to lead the attack.

Asked if he thought Harps are safe after the 1-1 draw with St. Patrick’s Athletic on Tuesday, Horgan replied: “I don’t know. We have to go to Cork and try to get something out of them, and one last gasp bit of energy might be left.”

Cork simply have to win to maintain any hope of capitalising on a Dundalk slip-up, and Horgan fears Harps could be in for somewhat of a back-lash: “Turner’s Cross is the toughest place to go in the country,” Horgan continued.

“They have to get a win from this game. What we don’t want is to get a hammering and that could easily happen.”

Depending on how the results go tonight, Harps could be safe. However, the likelihood is that they will not know until after Wexford’s game against Cork on Tuesday, just what is needed – if anything – when they travel to Ferrycarraig Park to face Wexford in their penultimate game of the season on Friday, October 21st.

Kick-of at Turner’s Cross is 7.45 pm.