An 80th minute equaliser from Dean Kelly earned Wexford FC a precious point against Finn Harps in their SSE Airtricity First Division clash in Ferrycarrig Park. A Paddy McCourt penalty midway through the second-half looked to have earned Finn Harps
An 80th minute equaliser from Dean Kelly earned Wexford FC a precious point against Finn Harps in their SSE Airtricity First Division clash in Ferrycarrig Park.
A Paddy McCourt penalty midway through the second-half looked to have earned Finn Harps a hard-fought three points but Wexford had other ideas and battled back for a draw. The game was scoreless at half-time although both sides showed plenty of attacking endeavour.
Finn Harps created the first decent opening in the eighth minute when Jesse Devers burst into the box with menace, but he dragged his shot wide of the right post. The visitors went even closer three minutes later when Ciaran O'Connor ran on to a through ball from Aidan Friel, but his rising effort rattled the crossbar.
Friel was again in the thick of the action midway through the first-half, forcing Kealan Gaffney to tip his brilliant long-range effort around the bar. It was Wexford's turn to threaten with 37 minutes on the clock, when Dean George did well on the edge of the area, before getting a shot away which Ciaran Gallagher tipped around the post.
The hosts had another sight of goal on the stroke of half-time when Aaron Dobbs glanced a header narrowly wide from a Dean Kelly corner. It looked like it could be turning into a frustrating night for the visitors but when referee David Keeler pointed to the spot in the 67th minute, McCourt confidently slotted the ball out of goalkeeper Gaffney's reach into the left-hand corner of the net.
Their joy was short-lived, however, as the Slaneysiders grabbed a leveller with just over ten minutes remaining. Gallagher did well to save Thomas Croke's stinging volley from the edge of the area, but Dean Kelly was on hand to turn the ball to the net from close range. Harps created one more gilt-edged opportunity to snatch a winner when Ciaran O'Connor ran on to Keith Cowan's long punt forward, but Gaffney got a strong hand to his shot to avert the danger.
