Finn Harps 1
St Patrick’s Athletic 2
A BRILLIANT INDIVIDUAL goal from Tommy Lonergan with five minutes to play sneaked victory for St Patrick’s Athletic in the FAI Cup quarter-final at Finn Harps.
Sean O’Donnell gave the Ballyfofey side a half-time advantage only for Chris Forrester to level it up from the spot just after the restart. Then Lonergan made his way in from the right and smashed a winner past Rory Kelly.
For 45 minutes at Finn Park, the locals must’ve been pinching themselves as their side were one up and full value for it. It was a far cry from a week beforehand where they were drubbed 4-0 at home, which, as an indicator of their travails this season, meant a 21-2 aggregate scoreline in therr four clashes with Waterford.
However, the only boos in Ballybofey at the break were from the visiting supporters as their team produced little of the form that took them to success in competition at the Aviva two seasons ago.
The closest the Inchicore outfit – FAI Cup winners in 2021 – came was when Forrester’s shot on 21 minutes from 18 yards clipped the inside of the Harps post but just a minute later, they were behind. Patrick Ferry led a charge and after drawing two defenders, slipped in Sean O’Donnell to his left to gallop clear and place the ball past an advancing Dean Lyness.
The St Pat’s goalkeeper was alert to stop Ryan Flood and Caoimhin Porter shots in the second quarter and an even better save came when he turned away a header from Flood’s cross that clipped the head of St Pat’s defender, Joseph Redmond.
At the Town End of the ground, Kelly was dealing well with anything that came his way, most notably a decent Jamie McClelland strike which was turned around the post.
With Jon Daly’s voice undoubtedly still ringing in their ears, St Pat’s managed to get on terms three minutes into the second half. Referee Rob Harvey awarded a penalty for a challenge by Séamas Keogh on Jake Mulraney at the back post, which Forrester coolly converted for 1-1.
Neither goalkeeper was overly tested from there on in, it was Harps who were the ones pushing most, with a Flood shot flying over and then a Doherty one just wide.
The tie was eventually settled by a brilliant piece of individual skill from Lonergan, who cut in from the right and when faced with Kelly, opted to go high and it flew in for what proved to be the winner.
Finn Harps: Rory Kelly; Stephen Doherty, Jamie Watson, Matthew Makinson (Max Johnston 89), Séamas Keogh; Seán O’Donnell, Caoimhin Porter (Daniel Stokoe 60), Max Hutchison, Ryan Flood; Tony McNamee; Patrick Ferry (BJ Banda 60).
St Patrick’s Athletic: Dean Lyness; Anthony Breslin, Joseph Redmond, John-Alan McGrath, Ryan McLaughlin; Adam Murphy (Mark Doyle 70), Jamie Lennon, Christopher Forrester, Jason McClelland (Ben McCormack 70), Conor Carty (Thomas Lonergan 17), Jake Mulraney (Alex Nolan 89).
Ref: Robert Harvey
