Waterford FC moved five points clear at the top of the SSE Airtricity League First Division after a 3-0 win against Cabinteely at the RSC on Friday evening.
The game was only four minutes old when the Blues struck the front when a superb ball from Kenny Browne found David McDaid who picked out Garry Comerford out on the left side of the penalty area and his cross was fired home from deep inside the penalty area by striker Mark O’Sullivan.
It got better for the Blues three minutes later when Comerford picked up possession of the ball on the right-side of the area after he got in behind the Cabinteely defence to race onto a pass from Kenny Browne before slipping a right-footed shot past Jack Menton from 12 yards.
O’Sullivan went agonisingly close to added a third goal for Waterford on 19 minutes when the attacker beat the offside trap but his attempted left-footed lob of the advancing Menton went just inches wide of the right-hand post.
Waterford had another great chance to increase the lead three minutes before half time when John Martin linked up with McDaid to play O’Sullivan clear on goal but his touch past Jack Menton shaved the outside of the right-hand post.
With the Blues dominant in the first half, they continued their dominance into the early stages in the second half as within two minutes of the restart, David McDaid raced one on one with the visiting keeper Menton but his effort was superbly kept out.
John Martin, who scored a hat-trick against Athlone Town in the previous game, was the next player to go close for the home side on 51 minutes when he took a pass from O’Sullivan on the left-side of the penalty area but his left-footed effort was deflected over the crossbar for a corner kick.
Blues keeper Matthew Connor was called into action to make a smart save eight minutes later when Conor Keeley got his head on the end of a right-wing Evan Galvin free kick but his header at the back post was well kept out by the hand of the netminder.
A third Blues goal did arrive on 79 minutes when a magnificent through ball from Martin sent O’Sullivan clear on the left-side of the penalty area and he slotted a neat left-footed finish to the far corner of the net from 12 yards.
Martin nearly got his name on the scoresheet less than two minutes later when he took a pass from Mark O’Sullivan but his right-footed shot from 14 yards just cleared the crossbar as the Blues faithful had to be happy with just three goals in a comfortable success.
Waterford FC: Matthew Connor, Robin Dempsey, Kenny Browne, Patrick McClean, Derek Daly, Kenny McEvoy (Conor Whittle `68), Garry Comerford, John Martin (Owen Wall `83), Anthony McAlavey, David McDaid, Mark O’Sullivan (Dean Walsh `86)
Cabinteely: Jack Menton, Adam Harney (Adam Maher `59), Kevin Knight, Conor Keeley, Sean Fitzpatrick, Jack Watson, Joe Doyle, Daire Doyle (Anto Dolan `80), Cory Galvin, Marty Waters, Evan Galvin (Michael Scott `80)
Referee: Eoghan O’Shea
