League Report: Waterford 4 - 1 Finn Harps

Waterford needed injury time goals goal from Junior Quitirna and John Martin to ensure of the three points against Finn Harps at the RSC on Friday evening.

After going 2-0 up through Phoenix Patterson’s shot from outside the box and Quitirna’s tap-in to an empty net, the Blues performance was almost undone in one moment of madness which saw goalkeeper Brian Murphy sent off and Tunde Owolabi scoring a penalty.

The score line is just a snapshot of a crazy game in the Premier Division which has now pulled Finn Harps into the battle to avoid relegation.

This was a fear which seemed to be with Ollie Horgan going into kick off, as he seemed to have a plan: Score early and sit back.

This nearly worked inside seven minutes when  Owolabi pulled away and had a powerful shot saved by Murphy.

This woke up the Blues, who had a chance of their own, which started with an excellent pass from Anthony Wordsworth. The ball found Patterson and he cut inside before shooting at goal. Gerard Doherty read this well from the moment the forward adjusted his run and he saved.

The end to end opening faded into a tense game, which saw Waterford dominate possession to try and get around Harps’ low block.

To breakthrough the defensive wall, Waterford needed a deflected ball to the feet of Patterson, which was powered into the bottom right corner.  

Finn Harps then created a few half chances from corners, with Eddie Nolan and Patterson heading two of these away.

The Blues tried to break after the flurry of corners for Harps. Mark Coyle and Kosovar Sadiki produced two excellent blocks to halt a free-running counter attack.

Owolabi ran the length of the pitch after the restart and entered the Blues box, and just before he could pull off a shot Shane Griffin cleared with an excellent sliding tackle.  

This was the moment when Ollie Horgan decided to change tactics by committing men forward in numbers.

This switch up nearly caught Waterford out twice in quick succession. First, David Webster had a header well saved by Murphy. Then, Shane McEleney chipped a ball into the path of Owolabi, but he did not have the space to shoot.

With so many Harps players forward half, Ferguson spotted space and he sent a long ball into the path of  Junior Quitirna. He sprinted through into the box and McGinley tried to collect from his feet but instead the goalkeeper spilled it back to  Quitirna, who tapped into an empty goal.

Harps’s response was a corner, which led to chaos. In the middle of this, referee Graham Kelly blew his whistle and Brian Murphy saw red, which caused great protests from the Waterford bench.

A penalty was given and Tunde Owolabi had his shot saved by Matthew Connor, but the ball bobbed over the goal-keeper and went in.

With eighteen minutes remaining, Waterford piled behind the ball to try and shut out Harps. This again played into the Blues as they were given space to break.

Their first opening saw Quitirna square the ball to Martin, who shot into the roof of the net, while Mark McGinley stood frozen.

The second saw Quitirna fire across goal-from close range, making it 4-1 to Waterford FC.

Waterford FC: Brain Murphy; Kyle Ferguson, Shane Griffin (Matthew Connor 74), Anthony Wordsworth, Junior Quitirna, John Martin, Niall O’Keeffe, Jack Stafford, Greg Halford, Phoenix Patterson, Eddie Nolan.

Subs Not Used: Cameron Evans, George Forrest, Jeremie Milambo, Jamal Dupree, Ronaldo Romario Green.

Finn Harps: Gerard Doherty (Mark McGinley 34); Jordan Mustoe, Kosovar Sadiki, David Webster, Barry McNamee, Mark Coyle (Luke Rudden 89), Shane McEleney, Dan Hawkins, Adam Foley, Ryan Rainey, Tunde Owolabi, Karl O’Sullivan (Mark Timlin 74).

Subs not used: Nathan Logue; Stephen Doherty, Patrick McGarvey, Will Seymore.

Referee: Graham Kelly

Extratime.com Player of the Match: Junior Quitirna (Waterford).

Attendance: 1,800.