FAI Cup: Finn Harps fightback to hold Dundalk and force replay

In the 95th minute, Sean Boyd got on the end of a Ryan Rainey long ball in to set up a replay this Tuesday at Oriel Park

Finn Harps' Sean Boyd celebrates scoring the equalising goal deep into injury time to send the game to a replay with teammates and fans. Picture: INPHO/Evan Logan

Finn Harps 3 Dundalk 3

Sean Boyd was the Finn Harps hero with two late goals to salvage a dramatic draw with Dundalk in the FAI Cup quarter-final.

In the 95th minute, Boyd got on the end of a Ryan Rainey long ball in to set up a replay this Tuesday at Oriel Park. The same player had pulled one back for 3-2 in the 84th minute,

Dundalk had come from behind against 10-man Harps with Patrick Hoban scoring twice.

The Lilywhites went behind when Tunde Owolabi smashed the locals in front before Hoban replied from the penalty spot before a Sean Murray daisycutter gave Vinny Perth’s team a 2-1 half-time lead. Hoban added a third on 65 from Murray’s delightful cross before Sean Bod

Owolabi opened the scoring from an acute angle on 25 minutes when Barry McNamee had won possession off a Dundalk throw-in and the Belgian, with very little to aim at, drilled low cross the brows of Peter Cherrie.

Things then flipped when referee Damien McGraith sending off Jordan Murtoe, who bravely slid to block Murray’s piledriver, which was follow-up to Mark Anthony McGinley had turned away a Hoban shot. Hoban scored the penalty for 1-1. The incident happened in a flash and Ollie Horgan, the Harps manager, and his assistant Paul Hegarty, who claimed vehemently that the ball had struck Mustoe’s shoulder.

Dundalk edged ahead on 39 minutes through a long-ranger from Murray, which wasn’t his cleanest pop of the night, but took a slight deflection off Johnny Dunleavy and trundled into McGinley’s bottom corner.

Harps threw all they could at their visitors. Dundalk, despite their lowly position in the SSE Airtricity League where they are bottom but one, contain individual bucketloads of quality and it was on display for the third goal on 65 minutes when a delightful Murray cross was gleefully headed home by Murray.

However, just when it looked as though the 10 men were beaten,Six minutes from time Boyd glanced home a corner from Karl O’Sullivan before his dramatic leveller with Harps’ last throw of the dice.

FINN HARPS: McGinley; Boyle, Sadiki, Webster, Mustoe; Coyle (Rudden 86), Dunleavy (Doherty 73); O’Sullivan, McNamee (Foley 73), Rainey; Owolabi (Boyd 73).

DUNDALK: Cherrie; Dummigan, Boyle, Cleary, Jurkovskis; Stanton, Sloggett; Patching; Duffy (Leahy 92), Hoban, Murray (Animasahun 87).