It’s Sunday afternoon action at the RSC this week for the first of three successive weeks, as we take on Shelbourne FC in our latest SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division game of the season, and we have everything you need to know ahead of kick-off.
Waterford FC vs Shelbourne FC
SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division
Sunday 2nd August 2026
RSC, Waterford
3pm
WATERFORD FC
The Blues return back to the RSC for their first of three consecutive home games in as many weeks, following last weekends scoreless draw away to Galway United at Pearse Stadium.
That point on the road makes it five games unbeaten for the Blues (3 wins, 2 draws), as Graham Coughlan’s side go in search of adding to that total this Sunday in our rescheduled game against Shelbourne.
Waterford began their season with a 1-1 draw on the opening night of the season against Shelbourne back in February, with Tommy Lonergan’s second-half header cancelling out John Martin’s early opener, before the Blues fell to a late 2-1 defeat against the Reds in Tolka Park in May.
Coughlan’s side sit in ninth position in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division table going into tomorrows game, level on points with Sligo Rovers who occupy the foot of the table after their dramatic 1-1 draw at Oriel Park last night against Dundalk – albeit the Blues having one game in hand on Darren Purse’s side.
SHELBOURNE FC
John Russell’s side turn their attention to league action for the first time in almost a month tomorrow as they travel to the RSC.
After the disappointment of falling at the first hurdle of this years Club Orange Men’s FAI Cup with a penalty shootout defeat to First Division side Kerry FC a fortnight ago, Shels progressed through the second qualifying round of this years UEFA Conference League with a 6-4 aggregate win over Nomme Kalju of Estonia on Thursday evening to set up a mammoth third round tie against Dutch giants Ajax – with their first leg taking place at the Johan Cruijff ArenA next week.
Shels have struggled for consistency in their league form this campaign, winning just 8 of their 24 games to-date, as they head into Sunday’s game in fifth position in the Premier Division table.
First-team regulars Wessel Speel & Harry Wood have both departed Tolka Park in recent days at the end of the summer transfer window, as Russell looks to put a stamp on this squad going into the second-half of the season.
TEAM NEWS
No fresh injury concerns for Graham Coughlan to contend with following last week’s trip to Galway.
New signing Blair McKenzie was named in the matchday squad for the first time last week in Pearse Stadium, with Joe Ashton & Noah Mawene both available for selection this week after their late moves to the RSC before the window deadline earlier this week.
GRAHAM COUGHLAN’S THOUGHTS
“We’re in a good place at the moment on a nice little run with competition for places adding to our work ethic and training intensity each day. You can see the squad are all enjoy coming into training everyday and are pushing each other as much as possible.
As a group, the players will go out on the pitch on Sunday and represent the badge and county as it should be, with honest hard-work and passion which forms a huge part of our identity and the club’s DNA..
Sunday’s fixture is a game that we’re all looking forward to as a team. We felt hard done by the last time we played them so we’ll be motivated to fix that this weekend. Shelbourne are a top side who are right in the mix in Europe, proving the level they’re operating at, so this will be a huge challenge for us.”
