Goodings grabs vital winner as Tullamore advance

Tullamore booked their place in the quarter-finals of this prestigious competition with a hard fought victory over Dublin side Ratoath Harps in Leah Victoria Park last Friday. That the game turned out to be such a close affair was something of a mystery as the visitors were torn apart by a tremendous first-half display of attacking football by the home side but once again their failure to put away chances nearly cost them dearly. Town threatened on 20 minutes when Brian Francis won the ball in midfield and sent Mark Goodings clear on the right but his fine cross was headed wide by O"Connor and then Francis picked out Peter Martin but his deep cross eluded everyone. Ratoath hit back with a quick break through the middle but were denied by a great diving save from Mooney who tipped the ball around the post. The home side again went close when Kevin Duffy won back possession and found Goodings on the right but his dangerous cross was scrambled clear. With 35 minutes on the clock Tullamore should have taken the lead following great play by Goodings but Joe O"Connor just failed to turn his cross in at the far post and then a wonderful surging run by Francis took him clear of the defence, but his effort flew inches wide to leave the scores tied at 0-0 at the interval. Within minutes of the restart Town had hit the front when Brian Francis again sliced through the Harps defence and this time he made no mistake with a lovely shot into the bottom right hand corner. Ten minutes later the visitors were back on level terms with a magnificent goal when Stephen Creagh picked the ball up thirty yards out and sent it crashing into the top right hand corner of the net. With Tullamore reeling Ratoath began to turn the tide and only some resolute defending by Stephen Francis, Stewart Kavanagh and Fergal Gorman kept them at bay, but it was the battle between Stephen Mooney and the dangerous Shane Griffin that caught the eye as both players struggled to gain the upper hand. With 65 minutes gone Stephen Francis and Joe O"Connor combined to set up Kevin Duffy but he was crowded out and then ten minutes later they made the crucial breakthrough when Peter Martin played a clever reverse pass out to Alan Martin on the right and his cross was headed powerfully down under the Harps keeper by Mark Goodings to put his side back in front. Tullamore"s first-half performance was one of their best of the season and when they were made to battle for their victory in the second half they showed they were also up to the task. For the visitors there were excellent performances from Lawrence Halpin, Niall Dundon, Ciaran Rothwell and Shane Griffin, with Stephen Murray, Kevin Duffy, Peter Martin and Mark Goodings the pick of the home side, but the man of the match award went to Tullamore"s outstanding attacking midfielder Brian Francis.