FINN HARPS staged a remarkable second half comeback against Longford on Saturday night, scoring three times in the last 10 minutes to record an apparently comfortable 5-2 win. However, Harps at one stage looked dead and buried as Longford stormed into a 2-0 lead in the first 25 minutes.

Thomas Fitzgerald opened the scoring in the 14th minute when he exploited a mistake by Martin McGinley and drove the ball into the bottom corner of the net. Mark Devlin then made it 2-0 in the 25th minute when he ran onto a long ball from Smyth and rounded Walsh to score.

Smyth then made excellent saves from Jonathan Speake twice and Martin McGinley, but Ronnie Murphy pulled Harps into the match in the 45th minute when he scored with a close range shot.

In the second half, Harps dominated proceedings and when Speake's header came off the bar in the 65th minute, Pierce Walsh tapped in the rebound. Teenager Brendan Devenney, who made his first competitive start, then put Harps ahead with a wonderful chip in the 80th minute.

Damian Dunleavy's low shot made it 4-2 two minutes later and Longford's misery was complete in the 89th minute when Smyth was sent off for a foul on McGettigan and Pierse Walsh scored from the spot to make it 5-2.