Waterford FC maintained their Premier Division status for 2026 with a heroic Promotion/Relegtaion Play-Off Final win over Bray Wanderers in Tolka Park on Friday evening, after coming from a goal behind early on to fire home two unanswered goals from Conan Noonan & Sam Glenfield to secure our place in the top-flight of Irish football next season.
Ahead of kick-off, Blues boss Matt Lawlor made two changes to his side, with Matty Smith & Dean McMenamy coming into the starting side for this seasons Promotion/Relegation Play-Off Final.
The Blues dominated the early possession, with Pádraig Amond heading just wide on six minutes, after getting on the end of Ryan Burke’s deep cross. However, it was the First-Division outfit who got first-blood on the game by finding an opener just sixty seconds later.
A cross field ball was picked up by Conor Knight, who steered his shot into the Blues bottom corner to give Paul Heffernan’s side an early lead in Tolka Park.
On 17′, James Olayinka beat two of his men before laying off to Conan Noonan who saw his goalbound effort headed out for a corner-kick, as the Blues looked to get a quick reaction. Just minutes later, it was Tommy Lonergan who saw his effort saved by Corcoran in the Bray goal, as the Blues continued to apply pressure on the Bray defence.
Waterford continued to play inside the Bray area, with Amond seeing his close-range effort cleared off the line by Bray captain Cantwell from Conan Noonan’s delivery on 26 minutes. And on the 30-minute mark, Matt Lawlor’s side got the goal their performance deserved as Conan Noonan & Dean McMenamy played a quick-one two before Noonan rifled his first-time effort through a host of bodies and into the far right-hand bottom corner to level proceedings in Tolka on the half-hour mark.
A succession of corners in the opening period in the second-half allowed the Blues to continue to threathen as they did in the first-half, with Noonan & Amond again coming inches from close-range to giving us the lead.
Bray substitute Billy O’Neill tested Stephen McMullan from a set-piece just after the hour-mark, with the Blues number one level to the danger to keep the score level.
It was the Blues who continued to press, with Lonergan & Smith both forcing the Bray defence into frantic clearances, as the Blues aimed to find a crucial second.
And that pressure paid off in the 75th minute, when Sam Glenfield sent the Main Stand of Tolka Park into mayhem, when he picked up the ball 25-yards out before unleashing an unstoppable effort into the bottom-left corner to give the Blues the lead for the first time in the game.
Bray looked for an instant reply, and almost had one when Justin Ferizaj looked to find the top corner from almost 30 yards, only for Stephen McMullan to pull off a stunning finger-tip save to keep the Blues lead in tact.
After this attack, the Blues defended strongly in the final minutes of action preserving their lead, with both times being reduced to ten-men in injury-time after Harvey Warren & substitute Navajo Bakboord receiving straight-red cards.
However, this didn’t dampen the Blues’ spirits as they held on for the final minutes of injury-time as referee Kevin O’Sullivan blew his full-time whistle to signal our security in the Premier Division for the next 12 months.
Bray Wanderers: Corcoran (GK); Murphy, Cantwell (C), Warren, Kizenga (84′ R. Ferizaj); Bartley (75′ R. Knight), Brennan (84′ Almirall), R. Ferizaj; C. Knight (57′ O’Neill), Curtis, Doyle.
Waterford FC: McMullan (GK); Smith (77′ Bakboord), Horton, Leahy, Burke, White; Olayinka, McMenamy (60′ Glenfield), Noonan; Lonergan (84′ Faal), Amond (C).
Virgin Media Player of the Match: Kyle White
Attendance: 3,648.
