It’s the final home league game in this years SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division for the Blues this Friday night, as Drogheda United come to the RSC for our penultimate league game of the season, and we have everything you need to know ahead of kick-off.
Waterford FC vs Drogheda United FC
SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division
Friday 23rd October 2026
RSC, Waterford
7:45pm
Waterford FC
The Blues are back in action at the RSC for the second time this week, and for the final time this season, as we host Drogheda United in our highly anticipated fourth & final meeting of the 2026 SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division season.
Tommy Lonergan stole the spotlight on Monday night firing home a dramatic 90th minute winner against Galway to secure a hugely important three points for Graham Coughlan’s side. Pádraig Amond scored twice in the first-half – his second coming in stunning fashion, an overhead kick inside the Galway area that found the top left corner – to give us a comfortable lead at the break, before John Caulfield’s side pegged the score back to 2-2 by the hour mark.
So far in 2026, the Blues & Drogheda have an even record with one win a piece, with our most recent meeting in Sullivan & Lambe Park ending 3-3 with Benny Couto’s 86th minute equaliser securing a point for the Blues.
Drogheda United FC
Kevin Doherty’s side travel to the RSC level on points with the Blues (34 points each), but with a worse goal difference, -13 compared to Waterford’s -10, as they look to overtake the Blues going into final week of the season.
Last Friday, goals either side of half-time from Brandon Kavanagh & Mark Doyle gave Drogheda a surprise win over Waterford’s FAI Cup final opponents Derry City, to set us up for a tense ending to the season.
In Drogheda’s last visit to the RSC in May, a 96th minute penalty from Tommy Lonergan secured Waterford’s first win of the season, in a game that saw Drogheda Head Coach sent-off late on.
Waterford FC Team News
Graham Coughlan has no fresh injury concerns to worry about ahead of kick-off tomorrow. Blair McKenzie has overcome his recent illness & is available for selection tomorrow night.
Graham Coughlan’s Thoughts
“There’s a lot of excitement around the place ahead of the game. There’s jeopardy, tension, nerves for the game, but it’s excitement for us. There’s pressure involved too, which brings out the best in people. It’s something we’re really looking forward to, the last home game of the season. We’re determined to make it an occasion, to thank everyone who’s stuck with us, got us through those tough times.
Our home record is really decent to be fair. As I said after the Galway game on Monday, we would’ve played the game Tuesday if we could, because we’re in that type of headspace at the moment. There’s a real buzz about us, and we’re playing with real honesty & intensity at the moment which I love to see. I can’t wait for the game. The lads are the same. You would’ve wanted to see them in training this morning, there’s a real bounce about them.
We say there’s a lot at stake. But we’ve crawled ourselves back from the dead. I spoke to the players months back about creating the unexpected, and now they have the opportunity to fight. We never thought we’d pull 21/22 points back on teams. We’ve gotten past Sligo, now we’ve got Drogheda & Galway in our sights, so to that is brilliant. At the end of the day, we’re talking about creating the unexpected, now let’s go and deliver the miracle, and that’s been the message for a while now.”
Match Tickets
Match tickets continue to sell well ahead of our final home league game of the season tomorrow night. Tickets are available to purchase in-store in our Club Shop from 10am up until kick-off, with tickets also available to be bought online.
Click HERE to purchase your tickets for tomorrow night.
All away-end tickets are sold directly through Drogheda United.
