The Blues make their first of three tips to Dublin this Friday night as we travel to Tallaght Stadium to take on Shamrock Rovers, and we have everything you need to know ahead of kick-off.
Shamrock Rovers FC vs Waterford FC
SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division
Tallaght Stadium, Dublin
Friday 1st May 2026
8pm
WATERFORD FC
Waterford make the journey to Tallaght Stadium on Friday night on the back of last week’s dramatic 1-1 draw against Galway United at the RSC. After the visitors opened the scoring in the first-half, the Blues battled back in the second-period, with substitute Dean McMenamy scoring a last-gasp equaliser in the 96th minute with the last kick of the game to secure a point at home for the Blues.
Jon Daly’s men will look to build on this point this coming Friday, with thoughts from our first meeting of the season earlier this month against Shamrock Rovers fresh in our memories. Pádraig Amond opened the scoring for the Blues with twenty remaining before Graham Burke secured a point for the Hoops from the penalty spot at the RSC.
Friday’s game is the first of a busy month for Waterford, with seven games to be played between now and the end of May before we reach the mid-season break.
SHAMROCK ROVERS FC
Stephen Bradley’s side welcome the Blues to Tallaght Stadium on Friday looking to return to the top of the Premier Division table after last week’s narrow 1-0 defeat away to Derry City at Celtic Park. James Clarke’s first-half effort inflicted just a second defeat of the season on the reigning champions, as they sit in second position in the league table going into Friday’s game – just one point behind current leaders St. Patrick’s Athletic.
WATERFORD FC TEAM NEWS
Cian Barrett is unavailable for selection for tomorrow nights game due to his loan agreement with his parent club.
On the injury front, Jon Daly has confirmed there are some small knocks in the squad that will need to be assessed ahead of kick-off on Friday night.
Conan Noonan returned to action last weekend, coming on as a second-half substitute following his ankle injury he picked up away to Bohemians earlier this month.
Finlay Armstrong remains absent as he continues his recovery from injury.
JON DALY’S THOUGHTS
“We’ve got to go into every game positive that you can get a result, and that will be the same this week. We were disappointed with the performance in the first-half last Friday against Galway, and in the second-half I thought we were very good & creating a lot of chances – on another night we could’ve taken the game – but we’ll take the point we got.
Now it’s the champions & double winners in line for us. They have top players & top staff, and they’re always very difficult to play against, but we have to be confident that we can go there and get something from the game. We’ve worked hard this week so that when Friday comes, we can meet the challenge.
We have to be brave in Tallaght on Friday. We have to try move the ball and keep it. It’s important we give ourselves the best chance. We’ve had moments, especially away from home this season where we feel we should’ve taken more away from games on the road – ahead against Bohs in Dalymount and 2-0 up away to Derry – so it’s important we go into the game on Friday with confidence and be aggressive.”
ARLO DOHERTY’S THOUGHTS
“In this league anyone can beat anyone. It’s about being consistent, and we can look up and go on a run. This Friday is going to be hard in Tallaght, and we know we’ll have to set up slightly differently, but we have a game plan and we’ll be ready to execute it.
I’ve had my chance recently and I feel like I’ve taken it well. Now it’s about kicking on from here. I get on really well with Stevie McMullan here – it’s good to have healthy competition in the group and the gaffer [Jon Daly] made that clear when I was signing here that he wanted two number one’s at the club.”
