Finn Harps and UCD played out an entertaining scoreless draw at Finn Park as the hosts remain six points clear of their rivals with three games left in the season. Harps had the better of the first half but couldn't get past Conor Kearns while UCD
Finn Harps and UCD played out an entertaining scoreless draw at Finn Park as the hosts remain six points clear of their rivals with three games left in the season.
Harps had the better of the first half but couldn't get past Conor Kearns while UCD were on top during the second half but were unable to get the better of Mark McGinley.
UCD have now only picked up two points from their last nine games while Harps are without a win since the August 2.
Finn Harps got off to a brighter start, attacking from left to right and their early chance creation all happened courtesy of the same tactic, with Tony McNamee resorting to the long throw-ins, a couple of which tested the nerves of the visiting backline.
After Conor Kearns finally got his gloves on the ball, the tempo of the game took a dip as UCD looked to halt the early pressure from Harps.
The first concrete opportunity for either side fell the way of the hosts, as Mark Coyle fired narrowly wide just after 20 minutes. UCD fashioned their first effort minutes later as Dara Keane played through Yousef Mahdy but the strike just inside the area was thwarted by two retreating defenders.
UCD had Mark Dignam to thank for the score remaining level just shy of 30 minutes, producing a goal-line clearance under pressure, and moments later Kearns clawed away a decent header from Harry Ascroft. The shot stopper was also called into action to deny Mark Timlin and Raff Cretaro in the following exchanges.
The visitors had a couple of half chances as the first period wore on, the best of which saw Ascroft get in the way of an effort by Jason McClelland as the teams went into the break level.
UCD had the better of the play after the restart but it was Cretaro who was the first to go close, poking just wide from inside the area, although the veteran looked livid as he felt he was impeded in his stride towards goal.
McClelland was having the best of the chances for the visitors and saw two good chances go astray approaching the hour mark, the first flew just wide from range while the second and better opportunity from close range was well saved by Mark McGinley.
Shortly after the hour, substitute Stephen Doherty was presented with a good chance to score, but was denied by Kearns from close range.
Both sides failed to truly test the men between the sticks as the game neared its end. Raff Cretaro perhaps had the best chance but took one too many touches as he entered the area, allowing the defence to clear.
Three minutes added time was shown on the electronic board, as Harps supporters cried out for their side to push forward in search of a winner but the match ended scoreless.
The result leaves Harps six points clear of UCD with three games remaining while they also sit six points behind Cork City.
