Waterford weather early storm to clinch FAI Cup final place
Tommy Lonergan of Waterford celebrates after the Club Orange Men’s FAI Cup semi-final. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
From a season that started into the abyss in May comes a Winter solstice for Waterford with a first FAI Cup final appearance for 22 years.
In keeping with their season’s trajectory from the bottom of the table, this semi-final at Dalymount began slowly as they weathered a siege from Bohemians to score twice in the second half.
Their opener, through Noah Mawene’s 20-yard strike on 51 minutes, marked their first attempt of the night on target.
Six minutes later their dream of a first Blue Riband since 1980 took flight when Tommy Lonergan, fresh from Lee Carsley’s star-studded England U21 in Cork on Tuesday, added a brilliant second.
He got on the end of a flowing counterattack, launched with a pass from Jordan Houston to Pádraig Amond.
Once the veteran fed his younger strike partner, the bulging of the net was inevitable.
In the end, they finished the stronger, with Conan Noonan inches from adding a third by clipping the post. They will face the victor of Saturday’s other semi-final between Galway United and Derry City.
For Bohs, silverware is not beyond them, even if a first Cup since 2008 is.
They travel to bitter rivals Shamrock Rovers on Monday, aware that victory at Tallaght will hoist them level with the leaders and champions at the summit with three games remaining.
Bohs had contested two of the last five finals and began the season back at Lansdowne Road with a showcase opener but they won’t be returning on November 8.
This was a tie in which they dominated the first half without making their supremacy tell due to a combination of profligacy and the superb reflexes of Stephen McMullan in goal.
Having morphed into the form team of the league, winning all seven games since their Conference League exit to Midtjylland in early August, they maintained that momentum with an early blitz.
Waterford, too, had hit a purple patch coming out of the summer, their defeat at leaders Shamrock Rovers before the international break ending a sequence of 13 without losing.
All the initial portents indicated another defeat was looming as they were confronted by a Bohs onslaught, much to the delight of their sold-out crowd.
Graham Coughlan, back in the league for the first time since he left Bray Wanderers for the UK 30 years ago, couldn’t fathom how a semi-finalist enjoyed home advantage and the cacophony of noise behind the Gypsies added credibility to his bemusement.
With captain Dawson Devoy gaining a stronghold in midfield and Ross Tierney dropping between the lines, there was a look of cohesion to the team sent out by Reynolds.
The striker he recruited in the summer of last year, Douglas James-Taylor, was first to threaten with a fourth-minute shot from 20 yards that McMullan stooped low to repel.
McMullan was back from international duty with Northern Ireland’s U21s and displayed his mettle by thwarting Jordan Flores from even further on 11 minutes. The former Manchester City trainee possesses a wand of a left foot but from 35 yards the Blues stopper wouldn’t be beaten.
John Mahon, forming a three-pronged central defensive rearguard alongside Hayden Cann and Cork native Kevin Long, threw his body across goal to deny Tierney’s shot as the pressure intensified.
Cian Byrne could have done better from a Flores curling free but James-Taylor was most culpable for wastefulness on 24 minutes.
A pass around the corner by Waterfordman Darragh Power released Connor Parsons and though his cutback fell perfectly for the striker, he was unable to beat McMullan from eight yards.
Credit to the goalkeeper, however, for standing tall to foil the former Walsall forward but he was almost the villain as the internal approach.
All looked calm when one of the smallest players on the pitch, Tierney, headed goalwards but the Armagh stopper allowed the ball to squirm through his grasp. Fortunately, he reacted to swivel and prevented the loose ball crossing the line.
All those misses would cost them shortly after the restart. All they can do is concentrate on their late title tilt.
P Walters; D Power, P Hickey, C Byrne, S Mullen (C Whelan 62); D Devoy, J Flores; Z Myers (D Rooney 48), R Tierney, C Parsons; D James-Taylor (H Vaughan 74).
S McMullan; J Houston, J Mahon, K Long, H Cann, B Couto (J Ashton 90); L Heeney ((J Voilas 82), N Mawene, C Noonan (J Faria 89); T Lonergan (D McMenamy 82), P Amond.
Rob Harvey (Dublin)
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
