A 2-1 victory away from home seals 3 points and our first win over Derry City since the 2021 season. A brilliant performance all round sees us positioned 2nd in the league table.
First Half Heroics
Waterford covered great pressure right from the whistle, not giving Derry much possession, The deadlock was broken in the tenth minute after a spectacular run gave an early goal for Kyle White on his first start for the Blues as he cut through at the edge of the box giving Derry headaches as the ball sailed low and hard through 3 defenders and just past Brian Mahers near post. Waterford held much of the defensive line as the Candystripes pushed aggressively for much of the early stages causing trouble but no run was made. Derry were valiant in their efforts, breaking through the defence multiple times but were just not clinical enough, leading to some easy saves for McMullen. Derry put one away in the 16th minute for it to be pulled back for an offside infringement. The Blues doubled their lead as a Noonan free kick floated to the feet of centre back Radkowski who made no mistake in putting the ball tightly past Mahers extended range on the right hand post, opening his scoring portfolio for the Blues, leading us into half time
Second Half Scares
Derry got the game back into motion, pushing directly off the kickoff, with a very big chance from Connolly just grazing the crossbar from close range in the 53rd minute, instilling Derrys ambitions for the last 45. Two minutes later Podge Amond received an exemplary ball down the left flank squaring the ball to Noonan, who came ever so close to pulling out the lead by 3, but was sought off by a Connolly defection to roll out for a corner kick. 7 minutes later, however, a low swung cross was played in from the right wing, no one received it but Bakboord conceded a penaly after tugging down a City man, leaving referee Aaron O’ Dowd no choice but to point to the 12 yard spot. Pat Hoban made no mistake in slotting his penalty down the far right hand corner sending McMullan the wrong way tightening the deficit to just 1. As we entered the final 20, Keith Long put some fresh legs on, Substituting goalscorer White for Sam Glenfield. A huge scare came in the 83rd minute as a low ball to Robbie Benson was just put wide from 4 yards out, leaving him grasping the netting in frustration. With 5 additional minutes, the blues main priority was to hold off any attacks from derry which was executed greatly as O’ Dowd blew the full time whistle, guaranteeing a full 3 points for a long journey home!
My Thoughts
A show of class today displayed a complete different style of play compared to last Friday night against Shelbourne. My Man Of The Match has to go to veteran Andy Boyle, who displayed another level of skill in the backline. All eyes on Cork City at home on Monday Night Under The Lights, Bring it on!
Chat to ye soon
Conor (mon blues)