Waterford kicked off at the RSC in front of a boisterous home crowd looking to make it five league wins in a row. The opponents Shamrock Rovers were also in good form and looking to make it three wins on the spin.
An interesting night lie await in the south-east with both teams competing strongly in this year’s League of Ireland. The Blues and Hoops rivalry goes way back to when both clubs were in their pomp in the late 60s and early 70s. It was fair to say both fans were well aware of their clubs’ storied histories pre-kick-off.
And following a lively start, it was the away side who created the first real chance of the night with Aaron Greene lofting a lovely ball to the back post from the left channel, but Adam Matthews skied his effort high and wide.
But it was the Blues who made the breakthrough inside 10 minutes as Ryan Burke pushed on from his left centre-half position to float a dangerous cross into the middle of the box which marksman Pádraig Amond latched onto to head powerfully past McGinty into the top left corner.
And with their tails up, Waterford went in search of an early second before the quarter of an hour mark. After intricate play between Amond and Dean McMenamy down the Blues left hand side, McMenamy appeared to be felled by the Shamrock Rovers defence. However the referee judged the midfielder to have gone down too easily and issued a yellow card.
But Aaron Greene looked a certainty to equalise after an unbelievable outside of the boot pass from recent Republic of Ireland call-up Josh Honohan. But McMullan refused to be rounded by the experienced striker and got down well to claim the ball and keep his side in the lead.
But the home team’s lead evaporated not long after as just before the 25 minute mark, Aaron Greene found acres of space down the right hand channel from a long throw in. His low ball across the box was dispatched home by Rory Gaffney to a vociferous roar from the large away support.
And the Hoops nearly took the lead as Jack Byrne received the second chance to cross after an initial dangerous corner kick delivery. However, his cross which lead to a bullet header from Honohan was saved by McMullan to keep his side level before the halfway mark.
With an injury to Waterford defender Kacper Radkowski, the second half struggled to regain the momentum of the opening 45.
That was until the 75th minute when Michael Noonan latched onto a loose pass from Blues shot stopper Stephen McMullan. And with the netminder twenty yards out from goal, it left young star Michael Noonan with the simple task of passing from 25 yards into the empty net.
And Graham Burke nearly made it 3-1 as he drive deep inside the opposition half to strike a brilliant low drive towards the bottom corner. However, it bounced wide after hitting the post.
And the three points were sealed for Rovers in added time as Honohan pinched possession from Bakboord. And with Waterford pushing numbers forward for an equaliser, Burke found himself in acres of space to charge towards goal and finish calmly to seal the win.
Waterford: McMullan (GK); White, Burke, Leahy, Radkowski (Bakboord 60′), Horton; Olayinka (Pouwels 90′), Glenfield, McMenamy (McDonald 60′); Lonergan, Amond.
Subs: Healy (GK), Wade (GK), Queally, Zak O’Sullivan, Keane, Keohan.
Shamrock Rovers: McGinty (GK); Honohan, Grace, Lopes, Matthews; Nugent (John O’Sullivan 68′), O’Neill (Healy 68′), Byrne (Burke 74′); O’Sullivan, Greene (Barrett 87′), Gaffney (Noonan 68′).
Subs: Pohls (GK), Clarke, Grant, Ozhianvuna.
Waterford – 1 (Amond 10′)
Shamrock Rovers – 3 (Gaffney 25′, Noonan 75′, Burke 90′)
Referee – Aaron O’Dowd
Attendance – 3,321