- Aisling Hannon
- Fri, Jun 30 2023
Waterford were back to winning ways at the RSC on Friday night when they slotted six past Finn Harps to claim all three points in a comfortable 6-1 victory.
A brace from both Connor Parsons and Ronan Coughlan, followed by goals from Roland Idowu and Eddie Nolan helped the home side to forget last week’s shock 1-0 defeat to Cobh Ramblers at St. Colman’s Park.
Ryan Flood claimed the only goal for the visitors from the penalty spot as the Blues dominated from the whistle and took only three minutes to bag their first of the night.
Ryan Burke, who was a doubt for this game after suffering a knock last week, laid the ball to Parsons near the half-way line, with the midfielder then running solo towards goal, cutting in on his right and bending the ball to the bottom right-hand corner.
Harps’ German goalkeeper Tim-Oliver Hiemer was visibly upset with his back line and was forced into making save after save for the remainder of the half as Waterford were forceful in attack.
Defender Niall O’Keeffe, Burke and Coughlan were among those who had attempts saved by Hiemer in the opening 20 minutes until Parsons doubled the lead.
Barry Baggley stepped up to take Waterford’s seventh corner kick on the 21-minute mark, curling it perfectly into the box, with Parsons getting a slight touch off the ball to make it 2-0.
Just three minutes later, Coughlan claimed his 26th league goal of the season when Parsons provided a low, through ball on the wing, allowing Coughlan to run freely towards goal and take a shot from the left.
Keith Long’s side were clearly dominant but were left disappointed on the half-hour mark when Burke tripped Sean O’Donnell in the box, gifting Harps a penalty kick.
Skipper Flood stepped up and slotted the ball cooly past Paul Martin who was otherwise idle for the duration of the half.
Despite a couple of close, powerful Roland Idowu shots and an offside ruling for Coughlan, the Blues could not find the net for the remainder of the first-half and settled with a 3-1 lead at half-time.
A few early substitutions from Dave Rogers in the second-half couldn’t help his side any further, and Coughlan nabbed his 27th of the season and second of the night just ten minutes in.
A Baggley pass in the centre circle found Coughlan who made his way around the Harps defence, with a lot of movement needed to find the right space to strike.
He eventually took a low shot into the bottom left of the net as the defenders and goalkeeper stood frozen.
The second-half was certainly quieter in terms of pace and determination, but with thirteen minutes left on the clock, it was Waterford who were celebrating once again.
An Ellis Farrar tackle on Idowu gifted the Blues with a free-kick as Coughlan stepped up to try and claim a hat-trick.
His thundering strike met the palm of Hiemer, who was being tested all evening, but as the ball fell to the ground, substitute Nolan was ready to tap it in for their fifth goal of the night.
With just seconds left on the clock, substitute Thomas Oluwa made a burst down the wing before passing to an idle Idowu, who took his time once he collected the ball before sliding it neatly past Hiemer to make it six.
The result sees Harps make the long trip back to Ballybofey with no movement in the table as they remain in eighth, three points behind Treaty United.
Waterford stay second and welcome Longford to the RSC next Friday as Finn Harps face Bray in Donegal.
Waterford: Paul Martin; Ryan Burke (Ronan Mansfield 82), Killian Cantwell (Adam Queally 82), Niall O'Keeffe, Giles Phillips (Eddie Nolan 65); Romeo Akachukwu, Barry Baggley, Shane Griffin (Dean Larkin 73), Roland Idowu; Ronan Coughlan (Thomas Oluwa 82), Connor Parsons.
Subs not used: Matthew Connor, Darragh Power, Tunmise Sobowale, Wassim Aouachria.
Booked: None.
Finn Harps: Tim Oliver Hiemer; Noe Baba, Ellis Farrar (Sean O'Kane 80), Daithi McCallion, Shane McMonagle (Kevin Jordan 52); Damian Duffy (Aaron McLaughlin 52), Ryan Flood, Michael Harris (Katlego Mashigo 52), Caoimhin Porter; Filip da Silva (Max Johnston 61), Sean O'Donnell.
Subs not used: Oisin Cooney.
Booked: None.
Referee: Marc Lynch
Attendance: 1,507
extratime.com Player of the Match: Connor Parsons (Waterford)
