'It’s a pleasing start but nothing more than that' - Darren Murphy

Finn Harps manager Darren Murphy once again praised his side’s attitude last night in Finn Park as they overcame Athlone Town on a 2-0 scoreline to move to second place in the First Division. 

In what was a ponderous opening 15 minutes, neither team could get a foothold in the match, despite Harps applying early pressure on the Athlone defence, but that soon changed with Stephen Doherty and Success Edogun landing the only two goals of the match as Harps recorded their first home victory of the season. 

In assessing his team’s performance, Murphy was especially pleased with his side’s defensive shape that managed to keep a clean sheet. 

“I think everyone played well tonight, I know we like to maybe single out our back four and our goalkeeper when you keep a clean sheet, but I’ve always instilled in the players that defending starts from the front and we saw that, especially with how hard Stephen Doherty and Dixie Ferry played getting back to help our defenders, their work rate was massive,” said Murphy. 

“Even the three boys in the middle of the park worked really hard too. So, yes, it’s massive to leave here with the three points and the clean sheet and that’s down to the hard work and effort of everyone. 

“We can see the boys are always taking our information on board and that’s paying off with results like that, but it’s still early in the season. There are still 30-plus games to go but it’s important that we’ve been impressing the supporters, I think we’ve done that in the last three games and to send people home happy is brilliant. 

“I think it’s important for the players to enjoy moments like tonight, especially when you deserve to win the game, it’s not like we just limped over the line, we were the better side. It’s a pleasing start but it’s nothing more than that.” 

With the media singling out Edogun for his superb contribution to the side since landing at Ballybofey, the Harps boss boiled it down to how welcoming the rest of the squad have been and the positive environment circulating around Finn Park currently. 

“It’s important to have the best characters on your side,” said Murphy. “Every manager wants the best players and the fittest players, but with the division we are in, there’s nothing much between all of the players, so, it comes down to character and players who want to play for that jersey and we have that at the minute. 

“When I first spoke to Success, he wanted to be here. The rest of the group has made him feel welcome. I always believe that a happy player is a good player, and we have that at the moment because the boys are performing at a decent level. 

“It’s so obvious that the boys are enjoying their training, they’re enjoying their games, and most importantly, they’re enjoying each other's company and that’s so vital.” 

In moving forward to Cobh Ramblers next week, Murphy admitted that for Harps to achieve something special this season, it will come down to a full squad effort and players pushing for places, something which has been evident so far in the team. 

“We don’t win games of football with 11 players, or we don’t compete with just 11 players, you need a squad and I’ve seen at training and the lads coming off the bench are biting at the bit to get on and make an impact and at the moment we have that and long may that continue.”