By Neil Madigan
The Blues made it a night to remember, as they came from behind to defeat Cork City FC by two goals to one in front of a packed out RSC.
After a Monday night thriller at the RSC, the Blues snatched a 2-1 victory against 10-man Cork City. An early goal from Alex Nolan gave the visitors the lead before an astounding second half from Keith Long’s men which saw captain Padraig Amond and Kyle White seal it for Waterford.
The stage was set for the first Munster derby since the Blues Promotion/Relegation Play Off triumph in 2023. With both teams vying for success in the top flight, they were both coming into this contest filled with confidence following their respective 2-1 wins over Derry City and Bohemians. As fierce rivals; both sides were looking to claim some early bragging rights. This always had the credentials for a mouth-watering contest.
With both sides eager to get a foothold of proceedings from the get go, it was Tim Clancy’s men who stunned the hosts with a brilliant driving run down the right flank by Alex Nolan, who found the angle on the byline to brilliantly lift it over Stephen McMullan into the roof of the net. Moments later, the Blue’s responded with an immediate threat of cancelling the deficit as Dean McMenamy found his effort from range rifle off the Cork crossbar.
With the Blue’s remaining persistent, a well executed pass from McDonald saw a chance fall to skipper Padraig Amond who couldn’t capitalise on it, hence seeing his effort sail over the bar. Cork City were dealt a blow half way through the first half as talisman Sean Maguire limped off injured. Immediately after the change, substitute Harvey Skieters made an instant impact by slipping goalscorer Alex Nolan through on goal, who was ultimately unable to utilise the golden opportunity to double the visitor’s lead.
As the half progressed, Waterford remained eager to get themselves on the score sheet as they saw the lionshare of possession. With a lack of clear cut chances coming the Blue’s way, they continued press as Cork waited in the wings to try take advantage of their rapid forward line.
With the half coming into the final stages, the Waterford pressure intensified as a sublime passage of play at the edge of the Cork box saw Conan Noonan unlucky to have his strike blocked by the visitor’s resolute defence.
As the half drew to a close, Keith Long’s men had a big task on their hand to overturn the 1-0 deficit.
As the second half resumed, the Blues immediately came to life as they were continually on the front foot. It wasn’t long before the Blue’s faithful had something to celebrate, as Rowan McDonald found tallisman Amond in the penalty area, who beautifully guided his effort past Tein Troost to level the contest.
The work wasn’t done yet for Waterford as they were vying to take the lead. The Blue’s had their tails up as Navajo Bakboord got on the end of a rebound which was blocked by the struggling Cork defence once again.
Things started to get worse for the visitors, as just after the hour mark Freddie Andersen got his marching orders following a second yellow card. With a half an hour to go, the Blue’s momentum was stronger than ever as Conan Noonan saw his free kick clip the crossbar immediately after the Cork dismissal.
The Blue’s were continuing to pin the visitor’s back, when Friday’s goalscorer Kacper Radkowski forced Tein Troost into a wonderful save from 25 yards with under 15 minutes to go.
Just as the contest drew to a close, the RSC was sent into pandemonium as Kyle White found himself
on the end of a rebounded Tommy Lonergan header to put the Blue’s into a deserved lead with minutes to go.
As the final whistle blew, Keith Long’s men claimed three well earned points in a 2-1 victory and will now shift their focus to Bohemians who come to the RSC Friday night.
Waterford FC: Stephen McMullan, Navajo Bakboord, Andy Boyle, Rowan McDonald, Padraig Amond, Darragh Leahy, Kyle White, Kacper Radkowski, Tommy Lonergan, Conan Noonan, Dean McMenamy (Maarten Pouwels ’73).
Cork City FC: Tein Troost, Benny Couto, Charlie Lyons, Greg Bolger (Sean Murray ’45), Malik Dijksteel (Milan Mbeng ’64) , Ruairi Keating, Alex Nolan ( Josh Fitzpatrick ’78), Kitt Nelson (Rio Shipston ’78), Darragh Crowley, Freddie Anderson, Sean Maguire ( Harvey Skieters ’22).
