An 80th-minute Finn Harps goal saw them beat Waterford FC 1-0 at the RSC on Friday night.
The Blues started brightly and almost took the lead after seven minutes. Shane Duggan’s corner kick was met by the head of defender Maxim Kouogun but his header struck the crossbar.
JJ Lunney and Michael O’Connor did well after 15 minutes in the build up but Duggan’s right-footed strike was just wide of the post.
Finn Harps had a good chance 13 minutes before half time when Harry Ascroft made space for the cross but Sam Todd’s header was off target.
Matthew Connor produced a great save to keep it scoreless at half time when Raffaele Cretaro’s corner kick fell to Daniel O’Reilly but keeper Connor couldn’t be beaten.
Shane Duggan forced keeper McGinley into a good save at the start of the second half before Cory Galvin’s curling effort was just wide minutes later.
Daniel O’Reilly had another great chance to score for the visitors when Mark Russell’s free kick found the defender but his header was wide of the post.
Harps scored the winner with 10 minutes left. Georgie Poynton tangled with Mikey Place in the penalty area and referee Rob Hennessy pointed to the spot. Place stepped up to make it 1-0.
Kenny Browne almost levelled minutes later when he got on the end of Karolis Chvedukas’ header across goal but keeper McGinley made a great one-handed save to earn his side the points.
Waterford FC: Matthew Connor, Georgie Poynton, Kenny Browne, Maxi Kouogun, Rob Slevin, Shane Duggan (Karolis Chvedukas 83), JJ Lunney, Tom Holland, Dean O’Halloran (Dean Walsh 62), Michael O’Connor, Cory Galvin (Will Fitzgerald 75)
Finn Harps: Mark McGinley, Daniel O’Reilly, Jacob Borg, Keith Cowan, Gareth Harkin, Raffaele Cretaro, Mark Russell, Mark Timlin (Caolan McAleer 66), Mikey Place (Tony McNamee 90), Sam Todd, Harry Ascroft (Niall Logue 89)
Referee: Rob Hennessy
