Finn Harps 0-1 Treaty Utd Kevin McHugh’s side sit bottom of the League of Ireland First Division this week after losing to Treaty Utd on Friday night in Ballybofey. The visitors who had been the basement side coming into the match deservedly went home with the three points. After a brief improvement in results with a draw and win this Harps result is a new low and further evidence of a dismal four years since being relegated from the Premier Division in 2022. Despite the shocking situation the Harps committee appear satisfied to keep McHugh and his management team in place. There were three personnel changes from the Wexford win with skipper Tony McNamee, Darragh Coyle and Monteiro all starting with Gavin McAteer ruled out due to illness while Aaron McLaughlin wasn’t fit enough to start and Odhran McHugh dropped to the subs bench. Youth players Ashton Crossan, Lukas Doherty and Guilherme Tavares were promoted to the senior squad for the first time. Treaty started positively with Cian Curtis shooting wide while Ben Feeney had two efforts saved by Lorenzo Piaia. A key moment in the game for the hosts came when Max Hutchison just couldn’t get proper contact on Alex Fanle’s low cross with the English man’s attempt going the wrong side of the upright. That was costly as almost immediately Harps were behind as Colin Conroy curled a shot beyond the reach of Piaia. McHugh’s side who hadn’t really tested the keeper in the first half did make Jack Brady work after the restart from a Monteiro strike. However, it was Tommy Barrett’s side who had more of the scoring chances and should have headed south with a bigger margin of victory.
