Waterford United 4 - 0 Wexford Youths

Waterford United made light work of Wexford Youths on Friday night as they eased to a 4-0 south-east derby win in the RSC.

A Paul Quilty brace inside the opening ten minutes was followed by Peter White who made it 3-0 before Rob McLarney put the gloss on the win with a fourth goal a minute before full time to make it 4-0.

The hosts struck for the lead goal after six minutes when Conor Meade picked out Vinny Sullivan on the right side of the penalty area and his cross was touched home by an unmarked Paul Quilty from close range to give his side the perfect start.

Three minutes later and the lead was doubled. Vinny Sullivan's goalbound shot was blocked by his own teammate Peter White, but when the ball broke to Quilty he sweeped the ball past the unsighted Doyle from 14 yards

Wexford Youths were reduced to ten men on 19 minutes when Waterford central defender Paddy Barrett hit the deck in an off-the-ball incident with Youths striker Aidan Keenan. Assistant referee Shane Dunphy brought it to the attention of referee John McLoughlin and a straight red card followed for Keenan.

 Waterford keeper Craig Hyland was called into action for the first time on the half hour but he saved Craig McCabe's long range free kick with ease.

It got worse for Wexford Youths and better for the Blues on 36 minutes when they were gifted a third goal by a visiting defence that failed to clear their lines. Doyle blocked at the feet of Paul Quilty and when the attempted clearance fell to Peter White, he fired the ball into the unguarded net.

Doyle denied Drohan with a good one handed save before Gary Delaney almost gave Shane Keegan’s side a lifeline. The centre back roamed free from defence and fired a powerful effort goalbound that clipped Craig Hyland’s crossbar on its way over.

A quiet second period offered little in the way of clear-cut chances but Patsy Malone came closest for the away side. Donal Shanley clipped the cross from the left to the back post for Malone to direct his header toward the far corner but the hand of Hyland pushed the ball from goal.

Waterford United substitute Rob McLarney put a shine on the win with a superb strike in the 89th minute. The midfielder drove at the Youths defence before powering a 35-yard strike into the top corner, giving Doyle no chance in the Youths goal.

For all the possession that Wexford Youths had in the game, a lack of a creative spark proved costly. The Waterford United coaching staff will be more than happy to be back to winning ways and they travel to league leaders Athlone Town next weekend.

Waterford United: Craig Hyland; Conor Whittle, Gavin Kavanagh, Paddy Barrett, Dylan Mernagh; Vinny Sullivan (Marco Chindea 60), Peter White, Ben Ryan (Rob McLarney 60), Philip Drohan (Kevin O'Connor 78); Paul Quilty, Conor Meade.
Subs not used: Conor Coad, Francis Rockett, Peter Higgins, Chip Sanders.

Booked: Ben Ryan (29)

Wexford Youths: Graham Doyle; Craig McCabe, Gary Delaney, Rob Moloney, Shane Nolan; Eric Molloy, Donal Shanley (Danny Fitzpatrick 65), Paul Malone (Caolan O'Gorman 87), Shane Clarke, Brian Nolan (Daryl Power 78); Aidan Keenan.
Subs not used: Jonathan Savage, Shaun Corcoran, Graham Delaney, Brandon O’Callaghan.

Booked: Paul Malone (52).
Sent Off: Aidan Keenan (19)

Referee: John McLoughlin.

Attendance: 632.

Man of the Match: Peter White (Waterford United).