'I genuinely believe we didn’t do enough to get anything from the game' - Murphy

Finn Harps manager Darren Murphy has stated that over the course of the last four games, he feels decisions from match officials have been taken against his side which he claims he has found ‘strange’ following his side’s 1-0 defeat to Cobh Ramblers at Finn Park. 

The Ballybofey side suffered their first league defeat this season, despite calls for a late penalty for what looked like a clear-cut foul on substitute Sean O’Donnell, which referee Oliver Moran ignored, which could’ve leveled the match late on. 

But despite such a controversial decision, the Finn Harps manager said his side didn’t perform in the first, which saw them fall behind and were beaten by a Cobh side that deserved all three points. 

“Over the course of 90 minutes, we didn’t do enough to take any points from the game, the first 45 minutes we didn’t win enough ball and we were very lethargic,” said Murphy. 

“Cobh came here and put us under serious pressure, they were able to get their goal and hold on for the win despite us making five changes and breathing a bit of life into the game, but we didn’t create strong enough chances overall. 

“I’ve always been honest in my interviews and if we were to take any result from the game tonight, I think that would’ve been an injustice to Cobh because they deserved their win and they deserved the points. As a group, we have to respond now and dust ourselves down and get on with it.” 

Harps found a resurgence in the second half when they made four substitutions on the 58th minute, but despite that, Murphy believes they never created a strong enough chance to trouble Cobh goalkeeper Darragh Burke. 

“When you bring on fresh legs into the game you do create chances and put the ball into dangerous areas, but the ball just didn’t drop our way and unfortunately for us, I genuinely believe we didn’t do enough to get anything from the game,” Murphy admitted. 

“I’ve never been one that says what people want to hear, I call it like I see it, I can’t fault the lads’ effort tonight, but we just didn’t do enough, we probably lacked a bit of quality as well and that happens at times, there’s always going to be bumps in football, it’s about how we respond next week against Wexford.” 

Following the match, the main talking point focused on the referee’s refusal to award O’Donnell a penalty on the 91st minute for a foul inside the box, which after the game saw Murphy, who was booked by the referee in the first half, march to the stand to have a private conversation with the referee observer. 

However, the Harps boss didn’t disclose what exactly happened during the conversation.  

“I would like to think there are enough people in the ground that can make the call for themselves on what happened,” Murphy said regarding the penalty decision. “This is not the first time that big calls went against us, but anyway, there’s over 30 games to go and I think over the course of that time we will get decisions that will fall our way eventually. 

“I’ve always maintained that it is an extremely difficult job for the referee, he only gets one chance to look at it, but overall, the two big calls at Finn Park this year went against us, that’s life. 

“But there are issues around this that sit very uneasy with me, so I felt I had to voice my opinion. I never do anything underhand, I just state facts and I will leave it to whoever is in charge to deal with these issues in the way they feel fit. 

“I’ve been involved in the game since I was 16, and some of the things that have been going on, I just find strange, so I thought it was important to make the referee observer aware of the things that are challenging to me and my staff, and he’s put me in the right direction and how to go about the right way of dealing with it.”