Saved from the brink of extinction two years ago, Longford Town last night continued to break new ground for the midlands club, earning a place in their first Harp Lager FAI Cup final thanks to a Stephen Kelly penalty 15 minutes from the end of a hard fought but disappointing encounter.
More than 6,000 turned out to see Stephen Kenny's side take on the first division outfit in last night's replay and although they eventually got the win they had come expecting, it was far from easy against a young Waterford side that came close to matching their hosts in every department.
Having had the better of the scoring chances in the first period United gradually found themselves doing more of the defending after the break. However, they will still feel hard done by to have conceded a penalty due to a Brendan Rea handball that didn't look intentional.
Less than two minutes later Stephen Gavin might have put the game beyond doubt when he was put clean through on Waterford goalkeeper Anthony Fennelly but a poor attempt to line the ball up meant the chance was lost. It almost proved costly for the locals for as the game moved into injurytime Stephen O'Brien was forced to come hurtling out of his box to take the ball off first Ger Crossan and then Barry Woods.
Waterford, who beat Longford in a semi-final in 1937 on the way to winning their first FAI Cup, might have had their place in next month's final wrapped up after 20 minutes of Sunday's game, of course, but this time they were the slower out of the blocks. They had to survive a little bit of early pressure before, late in the opening half, they began to find their stride.
With Alan Reynolds suspended, Paul Cashin came into the side and the club's only survivor from their last appearance in a final made his presence felt in midfield where, along with Alan Kirby, he was one of the visiting side's most influential figures.
It was almost 36 minutes, though, before Paul Power's side managed a half-decent crack at goal. Despite having a good deal of possession in midfield they struggled as badly as their opponents to string any passing moves together. When it arrived, the build up to the shot was fairly typical of the game as a whole, with Aaron Moroney initially failing to control an angled cross into the box but a defender then knocking the loose ball straight back to Kirby whose volley sailed over.
Not long after, Stephen O'Brien was almost caught off his line by a long, looping strike from midfield by Kevin Whittle and with the visiting side finally beginning to gather a bit of momentum going forward, Rea then headed just over.
That was as close as anybody went to opening the scoring in the disappointingly scrappy first half. The locals engineered all of their best chances during the course of the opening quarter hour although none even hit the target.
It was hard not to believe that, with so much at stake, things would have to improve after the break but it was more than an hour in before either goalkeeper was to be threatened again. By then Longford were having the better of things but it wasn't until Rea's misfortune handed them a penalty that they finally made the breakthrough that paved the way to Longford's first cup final in the 77year history of the club.
LONGFORD TOWN: O'Brien; Murphy, Smith, S Byrne, W Byrne; Gavin (V Perth, 90 mins), Kelly, Holt, Prunty; O'Connor, Notaro (Zellor, 70 mins).
WATERFORD UNITED: Fennelly; O'Brien, Rea, D Whittle, Frost; Kirby, K Whittle, Cashin (Leahy, 87 mins), Waters (Woods, 81 mins); Bradley, Moroney (Crossan, 68 mins).
Referee: P McKeon (Dublin).
Celtic striker Henrik Larsson will be fit to play Rangers on Sunday despite fears he could miss out through injury. The Swede caused concern when he had to receive treatment for a knee injury during an international friendly against Switzerland on Wednesday.
