Longford Town v Finn Harps Airtricity League First Division Flancare Park, Saturday 6 th March, 2010 kick-off 7.30pm
by Joe Doherty
Team News: Kevin McHugh and Jonathan Minnock are likely to start as they make their returns to the club. Davitt Walsh and Matthew Crossan are also returnees to Finn Park and are also in line for starts. Walsh has been in impressive form in pre-season, scoring four goals in the five pre-season fixtures. Davitt looked very sharp in our pre-season games, said Harps boss James Gallagher. Kevin (McHugh) has been easing his way into things as he is coming back after a long layout with a hamstring injury. However, Kevin brings a lot to the side and we know he will be well watched in games this season hopefully that will open things up for us in other areas of the pitch. Tommy Bonner (shin) is definitely out, while Mark Forker will have a late fitness test after picking up an ankle injury.
James Gallagher on Harps build up to the season: I have been delighted with how pre-season training has gone and I know the players have been happy with how things went. We did most of our pre-season in Letterkenny at the Aura Leisure complex and we were able to use a lot of variation. The was a good energy about everything we done, so all in all, I'm very happy. Regarding the games we played, we did reasonably well with the only downside being that the game against Galway last weekend was postponed. However, we had a good workout against Bonagee on Sunday and we're happy that everything is in place now ahead of the new season.
James Gallagher on Saturday's trip to Longford: As usual, going to Longford is going to prove to be a tough challenge. They have had a change in Manager since the season ended and by the looks of things they have had a big turnaround of players in their squad. However, I won't be trying to second guess them at this stage and all I will be worrying about is that we are well prepared for Saturday's game. If we do what I know we can do, I would be very confident of going to Longford and getting a good result.
James Gallagher on Harps' target for the season: We want to improve on last season's eighth place finish and I would be looking at us being in the top-five and challenging for the play-off places. At certain points of last season we weren't actually that far away from being in the top four, but we fell away badly in the later part of the season and it was disappointing to complete the season with four defeats. There were weaknesses in different areas last season, but I'm confident that with the changes we have made to the squad over the winter that that has been rectified.
Last season against Longford: Harps held the upper hands on Longford last season with two victories and a draw in their three games. Both Finn Park games returned a 1-0 victory, while the teams shared a scoreless draw at Flancare Park.
Harps Fact: Harps haven't won on any of their last four visits to Flancare Park. In the four games, there have been three victories for the home side and a scoreless draw (last season). Longford have only scored once in the last six meetings between the sides.
Last six meetings with Longford:
30-Apr-05 Finn Harps 0-0 Longford Town (Premier Division)
23-Jul-05 Longford Town 1-0 Finn Harps (Premier Division)
22-Oct-05 Finn Harps 5-0 Longford Town (Premier Division)
14-Mar-09 Finn Harps 1-0 Longford Town (First Division)
30-May-09 Longford Town 0-0 Finn Harps (First Division)
04-Sep-09 Finn Harps 1-0 Longford Town (First Division)
Form guide (last six league games):
Finn Harps: L-W-L-L-L-L (3 pts)
Longford Town: W-W-L-L-W-D (10 pts)
Finn Harps Pre-Season goalscorers:
Davitt Walsh 4
Stephen McLaughlin 2
Mark Forker 1
Kevin McHugh 1
Johnny Lafferty 1
Oisin McMenamin 1
Packie Mailey 1
Jonathan Minnock - 1
Finn Harps Pre-Season results (Harps goalscoreres in brackets):
28 th February 2010 Bonagee United 0-5 Finn Harps (Walsh 2, McLaughlin, Forker, McHugh)
24 th February 2010 Finn Harps 3-1 Cockhill Celtic (McLaughlin, Lafferty, Walsh)
17 th February 2010 Finn Harps 0-0 Sligo Rovers
13 th February 2010 Letterkenny Rovers 1-1 Finn Harps (McMenamin)
7 th February 2010 Gweedore Celtic 1-3 Finn Harps (Walsh, Mailey, Minnock)
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