Prior to this game, the non-league side hadn't been beaten in three meetings with Finn Harps, but then again they'd never made the Donegal club travel to Dublin to play. Yesterday Belgrove got an inkling of what happens when a limited enough team gets a Premier Division side's back up.
The first blow to Belgrove's chances of causing an upset came from the afternoon's first corner after three minutes. The chance to clear the ball was foolishly passed up by the home team and Shane Bradley scored from close range. Similarly, the opportunity for the second, four minutes later, only arrived on James Mulligan's doorstep after the home side had dithered in the danger area.
Belgrove manager Tony Macken admitted afterwards that he knew the game was up for his team then, but he must have harboured some residual hope that if they could just recover their composure and battle their way through to the break without matters getting any worse, they might still salvage something when playing down the pitch's considerable slope in the second period.
There was, to be fair, some improvement, but never close to enough for Harps to ever feel threatened. The visitors looked sharper throughout and it was Charlie McGeever's players who were first to every ball and far quicker to spot the openings.
For most of the game Belgrove were swamped at the back where, despite playing with a sweeper, they found the Mulligan, Jonathan Speak combination far too much of a handful.
Pascal Vaudequin set up Speak for the third goal of the afternoon midway through the opening period and there could have been another couple before the break.
The game was completely killed off in a five-minute spell early in the second half, during which Mulligan, Fergal Harkin and Tom Mohan all added to the scoreline. From then on the visitors were more relaxed in their approach and only Davie Dowling went close again, his close-range header producing a marvellous stop from Dave Fleming in the 72nd minute.
Afterwards the Harps manager played down the importance of his side beating the club's previous record Cup win, a 5-0 defeat of Athlone Town at Oriel Park 25 years ago. "The important thing," said McGeever, "is that we did what we failed to do in Ballybofey. We got the early goal and after that it was always going to be difficult for them."
Belgrove: Fleming; D Carpenter, Daly, Moore; Caswell, Cray, S Dixon, Farrell, Cleary; Larkin, Ring. Subs: A Carpenter for Farrell (51 mins), G Dixon for Caswell (67 mins), Byrne for Larkin (72 mins).
Finn Harps: McKenna; vaudequin, Boyle, Bradley, Minnock; Mohan, Harkin, O'Brien, McGettigan; Mulligan, Speak. Subs: Dowling for Mulligan (58 mins), McHugh for Mohan (65 mins), McGrenaghan for Harkin (71 mins).
Referee: P Whelan (Dublin).
