SSE Airtricity League Premier Division
Derry City -v- Waterford FC
Monday, February 25, 2019
Kick Off: 7.45pm
Referee: Neil Doyle
Fresh from Friday’s win in Cork, Waterford FC make the long trip to the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium this Monday to face Derry City.
The Blues come into the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division game on the back of a 2-0 win away to Cork City in Turners Cross. Bastien Hery struck in first half stoppage time before Zack Elbouzedi doubled the lead and secured the points in second half stoppage time.
The performance and result will give Alan Reynolds’ team lots of positives after a dominating performance. The game also saw debuts for JJ Lunney and Scott Twine.
The trip to Derry will prove a tough task against a strong Derry City side managed by Declan Devine; the second away trip for the Blues in four days. Derry City beat UCD 3-0 in the opening league match before a 2-0 defeat away to Shamrock Rovers on Friday night.
MANAGER’S VIEW: Speaking to WaterfordFC.ie ahead of the trip to Derry City, manager Alan Reynolds said:
“The result [against Cork] was fantastic, but I thought that the performance and display from everyone was outstanding. We deserved it and it could have been more. We were really good and if we were more clinical in front of goal we could have scored more.
“We are just a new team as well. There are so many new bodies and it’s going to take a bit of time for us to settle and gel. We’re going to have our ups and downs, but on good nights we have good players so we need to just get behind them and stick with them.
“Declan [Devine] has put together a really strong side so we know we’ll be in for a tough game on Monday. It’s a long journey, especially with a short turnaround but we’re looking forward to it and have prepared the right way. We had a good win up there towards the end of last season so we’ll be looking for something similar.”
TEAM NEWS: JJ Lunney is doubtful while Izzy Akinade and Scott Twine are expected to miss out. Georgie Poynton has also joined the squad.
