Waterford FC secured back-to-back victories for the first time this season thanks to a 4-0 victory over the Premier Division's bottom side at the RSC.
The Blues have found their second season back in the top flight more difficult than their first but a brace from Aaron Drinan, a Shane Duggan strike and a Dean Walsh header helped them earn three points and condemn Ollie Horgan's men to their sixth defeat in a row.
Neither goalkeeper was forced to break a sweat in the opening 20 minutes although the visitors were more positive in possession. A Caolan McAleer volley from outside the box was deflected wide off Damien Delaney before Mark Coyle slid a pass to centre-back Niall Logue, whose effort was pushed wide by Matthew Connor at his near post.
The underdogs were edging the contest but the direction of the game changed in the 26th minute when Coyle gifted the home side numerical advantage when a second rash tackle saw him shown a second yellow by referee Graham Kelly.
The Blues were slow to spring into action and struggled to enjoy spells of possession in the final third but with ten minutes left in the half they started to threaten the Harps' goal.
Rory Feely's back-post header was touched wide by Ciaran Gallagher after Zack Elbouzedi's deep corner but the full-back was involved in the opener three minutes later when his delivery into the box was glanced into the net by the head of striker Aaron Drinan.
The goalscorer almost doubled the lead before the break although he couldn't get a clear shot away after cutting inside his marker and a neat Elbouzedi corner created a chance for Scott Twine in the early stages of the second half, although his effort couldn't evade the swarm of bodies in the box.
The closest Finn Harps came to an equaliser was a Daniel O'Reilly free, which Matt Connor comfortably watched sail over the crossbar and Alan Reynolds' men put the game to bed with two goals midway through the half.
Seconds after Gallagher used his feet to save from Lunney he could only palm a Duggan shot into the path of Drinan, who polished off the simple chance and eight minutes later Duggan beautifully lifted a Twine cutback beyond the helpless netminder and into the top corner.
The 10 men never managed to threaten Connor's goal in response and Dean Walsh nodded in an Akinade cross to put further gloss on his team's victory before the final whistle blew.
Waterford 4-0 Finn Harps. Waterford made the most on an early Finn Harps red-card and turned on the style at the RSC to secure back-to-back victories for the first time this season. #rtesoccer pic.twitter.com/5tWxKJiQbO
— Soccer Republic (@SoccRepublic) March 29, 2019
