League Report: Waterford FC 3 - 0 Cabinteely

Both Waterford and Cabinteely suffered disappointment on the opening night of the season last Friday. David McDaid and co helped the Munster men to put that behind them with a 3-0 victory over Cabinteely tonight at the Regional Sports Centre.

From the moment the teams stepped out onto the pitch the physical advantage Waterford possessed was evident. Kenny Browne seemed to dwarf much of the Dublin team. It didn’t take long for Waterford to make it count, either.

In the fourth minute Kenny McEvoy went on a run down the right and his final delivery was top-class. McDaid met it with a bullet header at the near post and Michael Kelly could only watch as it flew in to his left.

The rain continued to pour down with no let-up at all which made playing conditions tougher and tougher on the night.

However, credit still goes to Waterford in that first half for some fantastic interplay between Mark O’Sullivan, McDaid and Anthony McAlavey. Cabinteely tried to impose themselves on the game after going behind early but Waterford, with Dave Mulcahy partnering Browne at the back, never looked to be struggling.

It was McAlavey who scored a brilliant strike to make it 2-0 to Waterford. O’Sullivan did some brilliant work to make space for himself on the left before putting in a low cross. The ball made its way to McAlavey on the edge of the box who steadied himself before curling a calculated strike into the top right corner.

In the second half Cabinteely came out of the blocks firing and immediately pressed very high, but no matter how hard they tried they couldn’t break down the Waterford defence. Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters put a strike just wide of the post from the edge of the box. 

Waters was the standout player for Cabinteely tonight but he wasn’t going to get any leeway with Mulcahy and Browne on this form.

In the 56^th minute McDaid got his second of the game. It also came from the excellent understanding between him and O’Sullivan. McDaid finished brilliantly with a low strike to the near post. Kelly was beaten again but, to be fair to the Cabinteely ‘keeper, there wasn’t much he could do about any of the three goals.

The only other real chance of note came a few minutes later from a great long-range effort by Cabinteely’s Joe Doyle. Ian McLoughlin covered it all the way, however, and parried it out to his right.

Waterford were comfortable for the most part and will go to UCD next Friday night high on confidence.

It’s back to the drawing board for Cabinteely as they welcome Wexford to Blackrock next week.

Waterford FC: Ian McLoughlin; Jake Evans, Dave Mulcahy, Patrick McClean, Kenny Browne; Kenny McEvoy (Derek Daly 60), Tom Smith (Garry Comerford 81), Anthony McAlavey, Sander Puri; Mark O’Sullivan, David McDaid (Dean O’Halloran 71).

Subs not used: Matthew Connor (gk), Shane O’Connor, Robin Dempsey, Dean Walsh.

Booked: O’Sullivan (83), O’Halloran (84), Comerford (84).

Cabinteely FC: Michael Kelly; Karl Byrne (Victor Ekanem 71), Conor Keeley, Adam Harney, Kevin Knight; Steven Ball (Jack Watson 63), Christian Lotefa, Anthony Dolan (Michael Scott 76), Evan Galvin; Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters, Joe Doyle.

Subs not used: Jack Menton (gk), Paul Fox, Robert Duggan, Aaron Robinson.

Booked: None.

Referee: Robert Hennessey

Attendance: 1,317

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Anthony McAlavey (Waterford FC).