Finally got it back - working - with original TP-Link firmware.
Thanks to the post - Adding OpenWrt support for TP-Link EAP245 - #145 by svanheule
converted the tp_link firmware file to sysupgrade file.
Interrupted the boot process (while connected to serial port) by Ctrl-B
Uploaded the sys upgrade file using tftp to 0x81000000 and booted with 'bootelf 0x81000000'.
At times it worked while at times some errors cropped in.
Once booted into Tp-Link firmware, setup the password, and flashed the Tp-Link firmware -EAP245v3_5.1.0_[20230104-rel79433]_up_signed.bin.