A brace of goals from in-form Longford striker Sean Francis saw the ‘Flansiro’ faithful jubilant in a 3-1 win over Waterford. In a repeat of their 2001 semi-final meeting, former Tottenham striker Neale Fenn netted the Blues' sole reply.
A second minute error by United keeper Dan Connor, allowed Francis to side-foot home to the Waterford net, in an early period of ascendancy for Alan Matthews' side.
Shortly after the break, Fenn was released and he made no mistake, flashing a 25-yard drive past a wrong footed Stephen O'Brien, for the leveller.
Longford should have gone up soon after, as midfielder Alan Kirby had his shot saved when one-on-one with Connor, before O'Brien sent a long ball into the Waterford area and Brian McGovern's flick header evaded everyone on put Town into a 2-1 lead on 54 minutes.
The home side completed the scoring in the last ten minutes, when a through ball from Eric Lavine cut open the Waterford defence, and Francis found the bottom corner of the adavancing Connor's net, with a smart finish.
Filed by Barry J Whyte
