Drogheda set up derby duel

Drogheda United 2 Finn Harps 0

But the Boynesiders made very hard work of it against a dogged Harps side who threatened to send this replay to extra-time even after going down to 10 men in the 71st minute.

Drogheda quickly grabbed control in the possession stakes but two wayward shots from David Cassidy and Peter Hynes were all they had to show for 20 minutes of hard graft.

Harps replied with a Tommy Bonnar shot that just cleared Micheal Schlingermann’s crossbar, but immediately there was a great chance for Drogheda when Ryan Brennan’s block on Michael Funston ricocheted straight to Declan O’Brien who angled a low drive just wide.

Drogheda had the better chances coming up to half-time and O’Brien should have scored on two occasions from close-range headers.

But ‘Fabio’ came good five minutes into the second half when Harps failed to deal with Shane Grimes’ ball into the box and, after Philip Hand miscued from point-blank range, O’Brien forced the ball home.

Harps’ cause became that much harder on 71 minutes when right-back Damien McNulty received a second yellow card following a confrontation with Cassidy.

Hynes had an easy opportunity to put Drogheda out of sight shortly after but completely miscued an attempted volley after being put through on goal by Cassidy.

Ten-man Harps staged a late rally and McMonagle scraped the post with a stunning 35-yard drive, before Drogheda finally put the tie to bed in stoppage time.

Harps were hopelessly outnumbered when an attack broke down and Cassidy played the ball to Brennan who advanced on goal before returning the ball to Cassidy who had a simple tap-in.

DROGHEDA UNITED: Schlingermann; Grimes, McNally, Prendergast, Hand; Byrne (Foley, 74); Cassidy, O’Conor, R Brennan; Hynes (Rusk, 84), O’Brien.

FINN HARPS: Gallagher; McNulty, McMonagle, Cowan, T Bonnar (Duffy, 90); Funston, McGowan, Mailey, McCann ((Merritt, 84); Forker (McVeigh, 72), McHugh.

Referee: Derek Tomney (Dublin).