Kerry FC take a valuable point in Ballybofey after grinding out a scoreless draw against Finn Harps

Finn Harps 0

Kerry FC 0

It is over a 400km journey from Tralee to Ballybofey, so anyone thinking that Kerry FC were going to turn up and just roll over at Finn Park on Friday evening were second guessing themselves by the second half as the visitors stayed with the home side throughout to share the spoils with Finn Harps.

It was not a result that Darren Murphy’s side will be happy with as the boos from the home fans rang out across the ground at full time, in a game everyone felt Harps should have won, considering how dominant they were in the first half. But the boys in green and yellow had plans to spoil the fun for the Donegal side, and to their credit, Kerry FC deserve huge praise for staying with Harps from start to finish and even nearly stealing the win on a number of occasions.

Harps nearly hit the lead in the eighth minute when Success Edogun crept down the right wing and eased past the Kerry defence. Goalkeeper Antonio Tuta came to meet him low at the edge of the box, but Edogun was able to chip the ball over the ’keeper, leaving the ball to almost fall into an open net only for Samuel Aladesanusi to clear off the line and out for a corner.

The home side looked dangerous on the attack, largely led by the superb supply of ball from captain Tony McNamee.

Harps had a second chance at goal moments later when McNamee swung a free into the edge of the box. The clearance landed to Patrick Ferry who struck on the volley, but the ball just edged to the right of the net.

Kerry eventually came into the match with some half chances from Victor Udeze and Ryan Kelliher, but the Harps defence remained solid.

Goalkeeper Tim-Oliver Hiemer had to be alert on the 28th minute when Kelliher opted for a chance at goal 30 yards out, and while the strike was powerful and forced the keeper to put all his effort in stretching out to protect his goal, the ball just skimmed past the left post.

Finn Park nearly erupted on the half-hour mark when a swinging left cross from newcomer Luke O’Brian found the head of Shane McMonagle, but the defender’s resulting effort struck the upright as the away side started to breathe a sigh of relief as the scoreline remained level.

Kerry were again caught from Harps’ set-pieces but the Donegal side were unable to find the net when a short free from McNamee landed to an unmarked Conor Tourish, his effort bounced off the body of a Kerry defender and fell to Ferry, but the 21-year-old was unable to steady himself as he shot off target into the sky.

Darren Murphy’s side had one more chance before the break when McNamee looped in a brilliant ball at the back post to Tourish. The defender headed it across the goalmouth which found an unmarked Ferry who could have made it 1-0, if not from an outstanding diving save from Antonio Tuta who produced the moment of the half to leave it 0-0 at half-time.

As the wind and rain leaked across the Twin Towns for the start of the second half, Harps began to use the tricky conditions to their advantage against the Kerry defence.

Ferry started as he finished the first 45 minutes when he smashed a shot goal bound from an O’Brien corner, only for Kelliher to tap it over the crossbar.

While the second half lacked all the intensity of the first half, it still looked like a goal was bound to occur. A Jamie Watson header was the closest Harps came in the opening 20 minutes of the second period despite dominating possession and putting Kerry under serious pressure from corners.

Kerry eventually found their purple patch after losing Kelliher through injury but they could only manage a Sean O’Connell free on the edge of the box that was well managed by Hiemer on the 70th minute.

As the match entered into the final phases, the game ebbed and flowed with both sides throwing everything they had at it.

Kerry sub Cian Brosnan had an opportunity to win it for the away side when he shot for goal as the ball bounced in the box from a long throw-in, but his failure to balance himself saw the ball fire to the right of the post as the game ended 0-0.

That is three draws in a row for Kerry FC in the league, with Wexford FC coming to Mounthawk Park next Friday night and then Kerry heading for Belfield in Dublin on Easter Monday to play UCD.

FINN HARPS: Tim-Oliver Hiemer; Jamie Watson, Matthew Makinson, Shane McMonagle; David Cawley, Tony McNamee, Luke O’Brien (Sean O’Donnell 65), Conor Tourish, Max Hutchison (Stephen Doherty 43); Patrick Ferry (Christian Lotefa 82), Success Edogun.

KERRY FC: Antonio Tuta; Kevin Williams, Andrew Spain, Samuel Aladesanusi, Sean O’Connell; Sean McGrath (Steven Healy 75), Ronan Teahan, Ethan Kos, Victor Udeze (Cian Brosnan 84), Daire McCarthy; Ryan Kelliher (Daniel Okwute 62).

Referee: David Dunne