By Neil Madigan
An eagerly awaited return to the RSC was finally upon us with the Blues faithful returning in their numbers with high hopes for the season ahead. The Blues were back in action for their first home SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division game, hosting defending champions, Shelbourne.
Keith Long’s men were coming into this contest with some positive momentum following their impressive 3-2 victory over Sligo Rovers at the Showgrounds in the league opener. Similarly, Damien Duff saw his side overcome last year’s title challengers and FAI cup finalists Derry City in a comfortable 3-1 win in front of a packed Tolka Park.
With the champions looking to gain some early momentum in their title defence, the Blues had aspirations of their own to establish their own credentials at home for the first time in 2025.
The opening stages saw Shelbourne trying to get a foothold of the game with some early possession. The Blues absorbed this early pressure with some impressive counter attack attempts of their own, predominately through Padraig Amond, who drove from the half way line in the opening minutes to work Shelbourne captain Mark Coyle, eventually unscathing goalkeeper Conor Kearns at his far post.
As Damien Duff’s men began to regain control of proceedings, Waterford’s defence was eventually breached as Sean Boyd found himself in space at the edge of the box to slide the ball across the box to find new signing Mipo Odubeko, who slotted it past the outstretched Stephen McMullan to put the champions ahead.
Shelbourne continued to threaten; as Odubeko thought he doubled his tally for the night half way through the first half when his header found the back of the net, only for it to be ruled out for offside.
As the game approached the final 10 minutes of the first half, the Blues looked to capitalise on anything that went their way as a deep free kick from Conan Noonan intricately found the head of Andy Boyle, who was unlucky not to make more anything of it.
The Blues became increasingly competitive as the half drew to a close. This was seen through the brilliance of Conan Noonan yet again, who continued to cause problems for the Shelbourne defence through his set pieces, when his inswinging corner forcing a save from Conor Kearns with the rebound coming to no prevail.
As the second half got underway, the Blues began to persist to find a way back into the contest with a more offensive approach. Conan Noonan was back in the mix again as he broke through via a Blues counter attack in which he found Tommy Lonergan, who was unable to scramble it over the line amidst shouts for a penalty.
After an hour of proceedings, the hosts were dealt a major blow just as they were beginning to get on top of the game, when Ryan Burke saw a red card for a mistimed challenge.
Following Burke’s dismissal, the momentum swung back in the way of visitors who were unlucky to see Sean Boyd’s header fly over the bar moments after the incident.
As the game drew to a close, to their credit, the Blues remained competitive, with some excellent passages of play while also keeping Shelbourne at bay. Unfortunately, Waterford couldn’t reap the rewards of their persistence with the score remaining 1-0, suffering their first defeat of the campaign.
The Blues now look forward to a trip to Derry next week, followed by the first Munster Derby of the season back at the RSC Monday week.
Waterford FC: 1. Stephen McMullan, 2. Navajo Bakboord (Sam Glenfield ’77), 3. Ryan Burke, 4.Andy Boyle, 6. Rowan McDonald (Liam Roberts ’87), 9. Padraig Amond, 15.Darragh Leahy, 17. Kacper Radkowski, 18.Tommy Lonergan (Maarten Pouwels ’77), 20.Conan Noonan, 27. Dean McMenamy (Kyle White ’77).
Shelbourne FC: 1. Conor Kearns, 2. Sean Gannon, 4. Kameron Ledwidge, 7.Harry Wood (James Norris ’77), 8. Mark Coyle ( Ellis Chapman’77) , 9. Sean Boyd (John Martin ‘83), 11. Ademipo Odubeko, 15. Sam Bone, 23. Kerr McInroy (JJ Lunney ’66), 27. Evan Caffrey (Ali Coote ’66) , 29. Paddy Barrett.
Attendance: 3,448.
