Waterford United  4 – 0  Finn Harps

A twenty minute purple patch from Waterford United blew Finn Harps off the pitch, if not quite out of the water, at a rain-drenched RSC last night.

Though the strong wind and driving rain threatened the staging of the match for a second time, the game went ahead on schedule, and though the home side struggled with the conditions somewhat in the first half, they dominated the exchanges, and could have been a couple of goals to the good by half-time.

Mind you, the visitors might have opened the scoring themselves on 10 minutes, as a Marc Brolly cross-shot from the left was inexplicably left by Kevin Murray for his keeper, forcing Michael Devine into an instinctive reaction save, tipping the ball away from inside his left post. That was to be the Northerners’ best chance of the half though, as the Blues went on to create a succession of chances. Just four minutes later a fine low Graham Cummins cross from the left almost set up Paul Walsh six yards out, but Stephen McLoughlin got back to make a great blocking tackle.

On 20 minutes Cummins again came close to engineering the breakthrough. As he was set away into the left channel, his shot on the run had enough power to beat the Harps keeper Ciaran Gallagher, but was struggling to make the goal-line in the sodden conditions. Centre back Seamus Sharkey probably would have got back to clear anyway, but Walsh came in from an offside position to bundle it over the line and draw the linesman’s flag.

Walsh was having an excellent game down the right side, and was involved in many of the home side’s forays forward, but it was a quick break down the left, and a pin-point cross from Kevin Waters, that created the next chance, picking out Willie John Kiely on the penalty spot, only for the striker’s touch to let him down, allowing Gallagher to claim. Waters looked to be winding up to plant a header inside the far post minutes later, but an uncalled Cummins got in the way of Walsh’s superb right wing cross and the chance was lost. Six minutes from time, a well-worked free kick saw Dave Warren play it low into Kiely’s feet, and advance himself to strike the lay-off goalwards. Though a charging defender took some of the sting from it, Gallagher still had to be sharp to hold the shot.

Despite the chances, it was a far from stellar first half, and things continued in a similar vein after the break, as a low Waters free kick from 20 yards, well held by Gallagher 10 minutes in, was the only chance of the early exchanges, though things did pick up somewhat from then. Just after the hour mark, Waters slipped Cummins free down the left touchline, and as the Harps keeper advanced, the Blues striker slipped it past him from out wide, but again with not enough pace over the waterlogged surface to prevent Packie Mailey from getting back to clear off the line. Cummins was at the heart of everything at this stage, and two minutes later he came closest of all, taking John Kearney’s throw-in expertly on his chest, and hooking an overhead kick to the far corner from 15 yards out, only to see the ball drop onto the crossbar.

On 70 minutes however, a moment of real magic from substitute David Grincell was to turn the game. The young striker had the pace to get to an angled Kearney ball into the left corner of the box, the skill and presence of mind to turn and drive away from the endline and towards the centre of the pitch, leaving two defenders in his wake, and the finish to whip his stunning shot into the top left corner of the net, leaving the keeper rooted to the spot. One more from the scrapbook for the Blues’ talismanic forward, and a timely one for him this season.

Within two minutes, United doubled their lead, fittingly through Cummins, who timed his run to perfection, allowing Kearney to slip a pass through the last two defenders and set him away through the centre, a great first touch and a cool low finish from 15 yards putting the result beyond doubt. Grincell was at the heart of things again on 80 minutes, again working space on the left of the area, cutting back inside and drawing a great low left-handed save from Gallagher with his first effort, and forcing Mailey to handle on the line from the rebound, as it was destined for the same spot in the top left corner. As Mailey headed for an early bath, Cummins steadied himself to send the Harps keeper the wrong way from the spot to make it three.

 That ended the game as a competition, but just into injury time Alan Carey put the finishing flourish to a stunning last quarter. After Stephen Grant was fouled slightly to the right of the ‘D’, the right back stepped up to bend an exquisite 20-yard right-footed free kick into the top right corner of the net. It capped a fine Blues performance, and a vital three points with Shelbourne having to play their make-up game at Finn Park next month.

Waterford United: Michael Devine; Alan Carey, Kevin Murray, Kenny Browne, John Kearney; Paul Walsh, Dave Warren (Stephen Grant 81), Seamus Long, Kevin Waters; Willie John Kiely (David Grincell 53), Graham Cummins – subs: Kevin Burns, Paul McCarthy, Joe Mulcahy

Goals: Grincell 70, Cummins 72, 81 pen, Carey 90

Booked: Long

Finn Harps: Ciaran Gallagher, Ian Rossiter, Ciaran Coll, Packie Mailey, Seamus Sharkey, Michael Funston (Mark Forkar 84), Barney Lafferty (Mark Moran 78), Sean McGowan, Paddy Bonner (Oisin McMenamin 78), Marc Brolly, Stephen McLaughlin – subs: Gary Whoriskey, Liam Mailey

Booked: Mailey, McGowan, Funston

Sent Off: Mailey 80

Referee: Graham Kelly (Cork)