Substitute Longeran seal win for St Pat's to break Finn Harps hearts

FAI Cup quarter-final

Finn Harps 1 (O’Donnell 20) St Patrick’s Athletic 2 (Forrester 48 (pen) Lonergan 85)

FAI Cup favourites St. Patrick’s Athletic had to thank substitute Tommy Longeran as he struck with an 85th minute goal to sink Finn Harps and send the Dublin side through to the semi-finals at the end of an absorbing contest at Finn Park.

The Donegal side has struggled in this year’s First Division of the SSE Airtricity League, and with just two home wins over the past year, few gave them much chance against the Premier Division visitors.

But they took the lead in the first half and St. Pat’s had to dig deep to secure their passage into the last four.

Pat’s made three changes from the side that lost to Shelbourne, with Ryan McLaughlin in for the suspended Sam Curtis, while Jay McClelland and Adam Murphy got the nod to start with Mark Doyle and Kian Leavy dropping to the bench.

Sean O’Donnell headed over from a long Tony McNamee throw as the Ballybobey-based side started on a positive note.

The visitors were dealt an early blow when Conor Carty had to go off injured and was replaced by Thomas Longeran.

The Saints were beginning to gain the upper hand and Jake Mulraney forced Rory Kelly into a couple of saves while Chris Forrester struck the post.

But Harps, who in their previous outing were thumped 4-0 at home to Waterford, took the lead in the 20th minute with a swift counter-attack that resulted in 19-year-old Sean O’Donnell steering the ball home despite pleas for offside from Pat’s.

Not surprisingly, Jon Daly’s sought to respond quickly and Kelly was on hand to make a particularly good save to deny McClelland.

However, in an open contest, Harps had further opportunities with Ryan Flood and Patrick Ferry both