By Neil Madigan
The Blues fell to a 2-1 defeat to Derry City FC at the RSC in our penultimate home league game of 2025, as Tommy Lonergan’s opener was cancelled out by Gavin Whyte before Michael Duffy gave the visitors all three points.
Following the international break, Waterford FC hosted a formidable Derry City side at the RSC in what promised to be a penultimate test in their home campaign. The fixture carries weight not just for pride but also for positioning—Waterford, currently sitting in 8th place heading into the match, will view this encounter as a vital opportunity to build on their important win against Drogheda United last time out.
Derry City, meanwhile, arrived in a confident mood. The visitors are second in the table and have consistently shown strength both on and off the ball. Tiernan Lynch’s side came to the RSC hoping to keep the pressure on leaders Shamrock Rovers while solidifying their European place for next season.
The Blues, for their part, had to balance ambition with caution. Hosting Derry on home soil was giving them a platform to strike, but defensive solidity was essential against this strong attacking side.
The game started in a lively fashion with the Blues getting us underway. Some positive pieces of play down the flanks in the opening minutes began to cause the visitors some problems which gave the Blues faithful plenty to anticipate early on. With immediate confidence growing in the hosts, the first major chance was always coming.
Five minutes in, Padraig Amond found himself in space after he beat defender Mark Connolly in a duel on the sideline. From this, the skipper was able to find Tommy Lonergan, who was closed down by keeper Brian Maher, who made a brilliant stop to deny the Blues an opening. With the half progressing, Matt Lawlor’s side were still looking the more likely, with the visitors struggling to settle into the contest. Although the Candystripes looked to gain some momentum with some possession in the final third, their efforts to find an opportunity were coming to no avail.
With the Blues remaining patient through this, the visitors were soon to succumb to this half way through the first half. A ball over the top was brilliantly touched on from Padraig Amond, into the path of Tommy Lonergan, who made no mistake this time around by beautifully smashing it home to erupt the RSC and put Waterford ahead.
Although the Blues had most of the momentum, it began to look as though the tactics were reversed and Derry were the side looking to sit back and break. Just after the half hour mark, this is just what they did. A ball breaking down the wing for Michael Duffy allowed for him to show his quality by putting in a perfectly executed ball across the box for the arriving Gavin Whyte, who toe-poked it home to level the contest. This looked to be the break that the Candystripes needed as moments later Adam O’Reilly had a strike from range which narrowly missed the post via a deflection.
Following the equaliser, Derry all of a sudden looked like the side that they’ve been all year and started to dominate. This sudden onslaught was coming at a bad time for the home side, as Michael Duffy was set through, who slotted it past Stephen McMullan, turning the game on its head.
With the hosts being suddenly behind, they had to try to find a way to reprieve this before the half time break. This was nearly the case as Amond forced Maher into a top class close range save minutes before the interval.
As the half time whistle sounded, Matt Lawlor’s side needed to reproduce their fast start to get what they needed out of the game.
With the second half commencing, the Blues tried to find the intensity that they started the game with. As Derry had something to hold on to they looked increasingly resolute which saw the hosts struggle to get a foothold.
With the game reaching the hour mark, the hosts had the lionshare of possession but some unsuccessful crosses, things didn’t look to be going the Blues’ way. Saying this, Matt Lawlor’s side weren’t going to give up and continued to persist in the final third as the half went on. As the game entered the final ten minutes, no clear cut chances were coming for either side. The visitors seemed happy to get out with what they had , while the Blues were no longer causing the problems they once were.
The final chance of the game did fall for the hosts, as a ball fell to Conan Noonan from range, who was able to force Brian Maher into a parried save.
With the final whistle blowing, it ended up being a disappointing night for Waterford. Focus now shifts to a trip to Inchicore against St Patrick’s Athletic next Friday, in what is our last away game of the season.
Waterford FC: McMullan (GK); Horton, Radkowski (75′ Coyle), Mansfield, Burke, White; Olayinka (67′ Glenfield), McMenamy (81′ Smith), Noonan; Lonergan, Amond (C).
Derry City: Maher (GK), Boyce, Connolly (C), Duffy, O’Reilly, Whyte (72′ Frizzell), Benson, Cann, Fleming (72′ Todd), Winchester (55′ Dummigan), Stott.
Attendance: 2,243
*Photo Credit: Michael P. Ryan/Sportsfile*
