Finn Harps 1 Dundalk 1
Norwegian Ole Erik Midtskogen bagged his first goal for Dundalk as the Lilywhites came from behind to earn a point against Finn Harps in an absorbing Finn Park contest on Friday evening.
Harps deserved their first half lead through Barry McNamee but Dundalk came storming back after the break and in the end will have been bitterly disappointed not to have secured victory.
Both teams went into the game hoping to recover from setbacks last time out, with Harps having been thumped 4-0 away to Bohemians while Dundalk slipped up 1-0 at home to 10-man Sligo Rovers.
Harps took a 19th minute lead when Adam Foley found McNamee, with space just inside the box, and he let fly with a delightful shot into the top far corner.
Dundalk got the second half off to the best possible start as they drew level on 48 minutes with Michael Duffy crossing for the towering Midtskogen to head home his first goal for the club.
Jim Magilton's side were certainly much improved after the interval and in the final quarter, Wilfried Zahibo could have put them in front but headed wide from a good position while McGinley made a number of fine saves to deny Midtskogen, and Duffy.
Harps also survived a late goalmouth scramble while McGinley produced another top class save in injury time to deny substitute Junior Ogedi Uzokwe a winning goal.
Finn Harps: McGinley; Boyle, Webster, McEleney, Dunleavy (Barry 64 mins); O'Sullivan, Coyle, Seymour, Doherty (Russell 72 mins); B McNamee, Foley (Owolabi 85 mins).
Dundalk: Abibi; Jurkovskis, Boyle, Nattestad, Leahy; Zahibo; Duffy, Murray (McEleney 63 mins), Sloggett, Jeong-Woo (O'Kane 63 mins); Midtskogen (Junior 80 mins).
Referee: N Doyle (Dublin)
