Late Finn Harps comeback earns dramatic draw with St Pat's

Finn Harps somehow pulled a point from the fire against St Patrick's Athletic with two late goals in the most dramatic of conclusions at Finn Park.

With three minutes to play, the Inchicore side were two up with Billy King having scored one in each half and were in absolute control having made a quadruple substitution. Some of the home support were even heading off to beat the queues.

However, substitute José Carrillo pulled one back on 87 minutes and the entire atmosphere changed. Then, from a late onslaught, Ethan Boyle bundled in a 96th minute equaliser following a Regan Donelon corner. Tim Clancy would have been pulling his fair out.

Having conceded twice in the opening seven minutes of their 3-0 loss at Sligo Rovers last Saturday, Harps were one down in six. Mark Doyle took advantage of a slip by Boyle on the Harps right to get to the byline and pull back for the inrushing King, who steered first time past Gavin Mulreany in the Harps goal.

Mulreany was making only his second appearance for Harps having got the nod ahead of Mark Anthony McGinley, while Dylan Duncan, the former Tottenham Hotspur player who signed last week, was in for a first start in central midfield. Had it not been for Mulreany, the match would have been over way before people thought it actually was.

In only the second minute, Mulreany had to scamper from his line to make himself big and save from Darragh Burns as the home defence was sliced open. From the corner by Chris Forrester, 16-year-old Sam Curtis got a good headed connection only to see it wizz over the crossbar.

Harps’ main source of giving their opponents bother came from Boyle’s long throw-ins, although Rob Slevin, from an Eric McWoods flick-on, failed to get enough power to overly disturb