Waterford FC fell to a second defeat in four days after a 5-1 defeat at the hands of title-chasing Shamrock Rovers at the RSC.
Rovers opened the scoring in spectacular style. Jack Byrne was found by Aaron Greene and he fired an unstoppable shot from 30 yards.
The lead was doubled five minutes later. Ronan Finn found Byrne before firing over Matthew Connor from 25 yards to make it 2-0.
JJ Lunney’s attempted backpass was left short and Aaron Greene ran clear before slotting the ball past Connor for 3-0. Greene scored again minutes later to score his second of the night, after chipping an on-rushing Connor from the edge of the box.
Waterford FC scored a consolation with 12 minutes left; Cory Galvin firing a 30-yard screamer into the top corner.
Rovers completed the scoring when they added a fifth on 88 minutes. Graham Burke crossed for the unmarked Thomas Aluwa to tap home to seal another three points in the title race.
Waterford FC: Matthew Connor, Rory Feely, Kenny Browne, Maxi Kouogun, Rob Slevin, Kevin Lynch (Sam Bone 46), JJ Lunney (Georgie Poynton 70), Shane Duggan, Tom Holland (Dean Walsh 46), Cory Galvin, Walter Figueira
Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus, Ethan Boyle, Roberto Lopes, Lee Grace, Dylan Watts, Ronan Finn (Brandon Kavanagh 69), Sean Kavanagh, Aaron Greene (Thomas Oluwa 76), Jack Byrne, Gary O’Neill, Graham Cummins (Graham Burke 41)
Referee: Rob Harvey
