Waterford FC fell to a 3-1 defeat on the road as Shamrock Rovers secured third place in the Premier Division.
Niall Corbet saved well from Dan Carr as the home side started well before Dylan Watts thought he’d opened the scoring only for the offside flag to be raised.
At the other end, Stanley Aborah’s free kick found Rory Feely but Rovers keeper Alan Mannus saved.
Carr was again central as the home side took the lead. Carr crossed for the in-rushing Shaw, although the final touch looked to come off Blues central defender Garry Comerford before nestling in the back of the net.
Dean O’Halloran was causing problems as the Blues grew into the match; on 19 minutes, Stanley Aborah whipped in the free kick but O’Halloran couldn’t get enough contact to beat Mannus.
Two minutes later O’Halloran forced Mannus into another save after Bastien Hery found a pocket of space in the middle; again the keeper did well to save.
Full back Rory Feely saw his powerful strike came back off the post with Mannus scrambling before Shamrock Rovers doubled their lead.
Dylan Watts’ free kick found Carr and he finished after a scramble in the penalty box to make it 2-0 before the break.
Stanley Aborah tested Mannus in the Rovers goal while at the other end, Dylan Watts sent Carr through but he scuffed his strike across goal as the second half wore on.
The Blues fought back and halved the deficit with 17 minutes left on the clock. Substitutes Dessie Hutchinson and Ismahil Akinade linked up with Hutchinson’s excellent cross from the right finding the head of Akinade and his brilliant header nestled in the top corner giving Mannus.
But Shamrock Rovers made sure of the result in the final minutes; Finn picking out Sean Boyd to head past Corbet to make it 3-1 and seal the points.
Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus, Sam Bone, Roberto Lopes, Lee Grace, Joey O’Brien; Joel Coustrain (Aaron Bolger 74), Dylan Watts, Ronan Finn, Greg Bolger, Dan Carr (Sean Boyd 79); Gary Shaw (Brandon Kavanagh 64).
Waterford FC: Niall Corbet, Rory Feely, Kenny Browne (Dessie Hutchinson 46), Garry Comerford, Dylan Barnett; Sander Puri (Ismahil Akinade 46), Stanley Aborah, Bastien Hery, Paul Keegan (Noe Baba 68), Cory Galvin; Dean O’Halloran.
Referee: Robert Harvey
