Finn Harps boss Darren Murphy to sit down and assess own position next week 

Darren Murphy says he’ll sit down with the Finn Harps board next week to assess his own future in the dugout. 

After the departure of Dave Rogers with a handful of games to go in the 2023 season, the Portadown native took interim charge and was subsequently permanently appointed.

Following that disastrous spell under Rogers, where the team finished second from bottom in the First Division, Murphy steadied matters admirably this term guiding Harps to sixth in the standings, just outside the play-off berths. 

He also had to contend with the passing of his dad, Bertie, in September, so it’s been a difficult number of months both on and off the field. 

Harps’ slim hopes of a play-off spot were dashed on Monday night as Wexford came to Ballybofey and took a 3-1 victory back down the road with them. 

Ahead of the team’s final League of Ireland First Division outing on Friday against Treaty United at home, Murphy had this to say when pressed on his own future. 

“The manager is like everyone else in that regard,” he said. “I’ll also have to sit down with the board and the chairman and see what’s what. 

“There’s no doubt it’s been a difficult year for me on and off the pitch - it’s been an emotional year for me, personally, as well. 

“But I’ve learned a great deal. And this will now give me time to finally process all of that. I think my father’s funeral was on a Wednesday and I was back in the dugout on the Friday.  

“It’s been relentless so now I have the chance to take stock, take time out and speak to the people that are closest to me, like my wife and two sons. 

“After that, I’ll speak to the board and we’ll see what happens next”.

Meanwhile, Murphy says he’d no complaints about Monday night’s result as ten men Wexford, who also rested nine regulars, earned a comfortable win at Finn Park. 

He explained: “I’ve no complaints. Over the course of the 90 minutes we didn’t do enough. Wexford had the aspirations of going second which they’ve done. 

“Their need was greater than ours and that was proven and even down to ten men they were the better side. 

“It was always an outside chance but we’d have liked to have taken that to the last game against Treaty here on Friday night. But the door is firmly closed now. 

“I’m still immensely proud of them. They are a great group that has worked so hard and they’ve taken it to the last week of the season. 

“They were dealt a cruel blow where they’d to play three games in seven days and it maybe took a toll. 

“But from where they’ve come from, to finish sixth in a really tough league was encouraging. I don’t want to sound like a broken record but I think those young players have come a long way.   

“We’ve had to travel five weeks out of six away from home - 11,000km as a group of players. We passed up on overnight stays because of our budget. 

But the players have kept turning up and made real improvements along the way. I hope the supporters recognise that and I know they do. 

“They are all hurting in there. They are just devastated they didn’t take this down to the wire”.