Waterford United 4 - 0 Finn Harps

• Dean Hayes
• Tue, Jul 28 2009


Waterford United claimed a hugely important win against Finn Harps at the RSC on Tuesday night. The Blues scored all their goals in the last twenty minutes, with David Grincell, Alan Carey and two Graham Cummins strikes making the difference. In difficult conditions this win was all the more impressive and puts Waterford two points behind Shelbourne in second place.

Despite the constant rain which washed over Waterford City right up until about a half-hour before kick-off, this game did not go the way of the original fixture between these two sides. The reason Harps had again made the long journey south to Waterford was because this clash was called off due to the rain when it was originally due to be played over two weeks ago. The weather had however left its mark, with the pitch carrying a lot of surface water, making conditions extremely difficult for the players. The game’s first chance came for the visitors and aptly, given the weather, it was Marc Brolly who created it. Brolly made good progress down the left flank and drew in Alan Carey before cutting back on his right foot and sweeping in a decent cross. There was nobody in position for Harps however and Kevin Murray chose to leave it for his ‘keeper at the last second, requiring Mick Devine to dive low to his left and claw the ball to safety. The Blues’ captain showed superb reactions to spare his teammates’ blushes.

Four minutes later and the home side, who were beginning to take the attacking initiative, had their first chance. Graham Cummins escaped down the left channel and crossed low to the far post where Paul Walsh was denied a tap-in by an excellent last-ditch tackle from Stephen McLaughlin. In the 19th minute Cummins burst through from the edge of the box and slipped the ball past the advancing Ciaran Gallagher but the ball slowed as it ran along the soaked turf but Walsh was on hand to get between the last defender and knock the ball in. The linesman on the near side immediately raised his flag, having correctly adjudged Walsh to have come from behind the defender and was therefore offside. The conditions were certainly impacting the quality of the game, with Dave Warren seeing numerous through balls run away from his targets due to the slippery surface. The visitors were coping well enough with the Waterford pressure as the home side attempted to stretch them as much as possible in an attempt to break down the well-organised Harps resistance. Walsh and Kevin Waters were getting chalk on their boots and were it not for the pitch, might have had more opportunities to run in behind the opposing back-line.

On 27 minutes Cummins crossed again from the left with the Harps defence overly committed to the left side. Willie John Kiely attempted to control the ball eight yards out but his first touch sent the ball too close to Gallagher, with Walsh better placed behind him. Kiely was also involved in the final chance of the half when Waterford were awarded a free-kick 30-yards out. Warren played the ball into the striker on the edge of the box and Kiely returned the ball into the oncoming midfielder’s path but Warren’s shot was straight at Gallagher.

The second-half was only eight minutes old when Waterford lost Kiely through injury, the striker had taken a knock in the first half and was replaced by David Grincell in a straight-swap. Three minutes later Waterford had another chance from a free-kick. Waters elected to power a low shot across the wet ground from 25-yards hoping for a spill from the ‘keeper but Gallagher was able to hold on well. The home side had another good chance in the 61st minute. Devine threw short to Waters to start a counter-attack and he looked up to play in Cummins down the left, with Gallagher rushing outside his box the Blues’ top-scorer again slipped the ball past the ‘keeper but Packie Mailey was on hand to clear the goal bound effort. Cummins was looking perpetually dangerous and he came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock on 63 minutes. John Kearney sent a throw-in onto Cummins’s chest and the striker hooked the ball over his head with his back to goal only to see the ball strike the top of the crossbar with Gallagher well beaten.

The first goal of the game arrived on 70 minutes and it was well worth the wait. Kearney played the ball left to Grincell and the young striker cut inside the first challenge and took the ball outside the second before lashing the ball into the near top corner from 20-yards. It was a wonder goal from the substitute and he was mobbed by jubilant teammates as he turned in celebration. Given the weather on the night it was fitting that after the goal, the floodgates appeared to open. Kearney again picked up the ball and ran at the retreating Harps defence, with Grincell pulling left Kearney kept his cool to pick out the late central run of Cummins and the big striker slotted the ball into the far corner expertly. The visiting players looked shell-shocked and nobody could blame them. They were hit by a quick-fire double and it was about to get worse. Grincell was played through on the left side of the box but saw his attempted finish saved well by Gallagher. Unluckily for the ‘keeper however the ball rebounded right back to Grincell and he swept it towards the roof of the net, but the youngster was denied a deserved second by the hand of Packie Mailey on the line. The referee awarded the penalty and gave the defender his marching orders. Cummins stepped up and calmly sent the ‘keeper the wrong way from the spot to make it three-nil to the home side. The icing wasn’t applied just yet though; in the 91st minute Alan Carey superbly curled a 25-yard free-kick into the top corner to seal an impressive win for Waterford.

Waterford United: Michael Devine; Alan Carey, John Kearney, Kenny Browne, Kevin Murray; Paul Walsh, Kevin Waters; Dave Warren (Stephen Grant 82), Seamus Long; Willie John Kiely (David Grincell 53), Graham Cummins. Subs Not Used: Kevin Burns, Joe Mulcahy, Paul McCarthy.

Finn Harps: Ciaran Gallagher; Ian Rossiter, Ciaran Coll, Packie Mailey, Seamus Sharkey; Michael Funston (Mark Forkar 84), Brian Lafferty (Oisin McMenamin 77) , Shaun McGowan, Stephen McLaughlin; Paddy Bonner (Mark Moran 77), Marc Brolly. Subs Not Used: Gary Whoriskey, Liam Mailey.

Referee: Graham Kelly (Cork)

Attendance: 286

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Graham Cummins. The striker helped himself to two goals and was involved in everything.