Waterford United -v- Finn Harps
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Waterford United welcome a confident Finn Harps side to the RSC tonight (kick-off 7pm) in a bid to make it their third win on the spin in the league. It certainly won’t come easy however as Harps are on an impressive run of form. In their last game they overcame Roy Keane’s Ipswich 2-1 and before that beat Sporting Fingal 3-2 and took an impressive point against UCD. The Suirsiders know a win in this game could be a big boost for their promotion hopes with title rivals UCD and Shelbourne meeting at the Belfield Bowl on the same night.
Waterford hit the ground running after the league break last time out, overpowering Longford Town 3-1 with the club’s free-scoring strikers grabbing the goals. Graham Cummins and Willie John Kiely currently sit level atop the league’s scoring charts with 11 each. Manager Stephen Henderson was delighted with the result. “"It was important that we came back after the break. I think the result was more important than the performance although we did play well at times. I'm delighted as I say because, after being off for a week's break, when you come back you're just looking for honesty and hard work, and it'll take a little bit of time for us to get back into the flow of things, but we got the honesty, we got the hard work, and when we needed that little bit of quality we showed that as well. "
Henderson then turned his focus to tomorrow’s visitors and what will surely be a stern challenge for his side. “Finn Harps are always a good side, even when they're losing matches they're always a good side, they try and play the game the right way. It's going to be a very tough game; we're going to have to work as hard as we did here tonight. Every one of our players will have to play to their maximum in terms of effort, skill and intelligence which is what they have been doing for the majority of this season."
Harps meanwhile will not be intimidated by their trip south and will be eager to continue their excellent recent form. Manager James Gallagher was pleased with his side’s result against Fingal last weekend. “I was delighted with the performance that the lads put in and everyone from one to eleven deserves special praise. We have now gone five games unbeaten and you can see game by game that the team is gaining confidence. Things are certainly on the up and the minute and although the performance against UCD in our game prior to Saturday was very good, we just stepped it up another level on Saturday night and got our just rewards against a very good Fingal side.”
This game will be the third against a title-challenging side in a row for Gallagher’s side and he has singled it out as an especially tough one. “It's back to the hard graft again after Tuesday night and it's going to be a really tough game for us. Going into the run of games against UCD, Fingal and Waterford, I always felt this was going to be the toughest one for us. We need to go down there nice and positive and with the same attitude as the past few weeks. We can't let the players get carried away with recent results and in truth with the group of players we have that won't happen.”
Waterford go into the game with no injury or suspension worries, defender Kenny Browne returns to the side having served a one-match suspension against Longford. Finn Harps welcome back Marc Brolly who also served a suspension in the last round of games. New signing Shane Sharkey is expected to start, having made his debut for the club against Ipswich Town on Tuesday. Top-scorer Conor Gethins, who scored against Waterford earlier in the season, is still missing through injury along with Johnny Havlin. Oisin McMenamin and Mark Forker also miss out as they are still with the Irish squad at the World University Games in Belgrade.
Extratime.ie Prediction: Both sides will be confident but I expect Waterford’s superior firepower up front to make the difference, 2-0 to the home side.
Waterford hit the ground running after the league break last time out, overpowering Longford Town 3-1 with the club’s free-scoring strikers grabbing the goals. Graham Cummins and Willie John Kiely currently sit level atop the league’s scoring charts with 11 each. Manager Stephen Henderson was delighted with the result. “"It was important that we came back after the break. I think the result was more important than the performance although we did play well at times. I'm delighted as I say because, after being off for a week's break, when you come back you're just looking for honesty and hard work, and it'll take a little bit of time for us to get back into the flow of things, but we got the honesty, we got the hard work, and when we needed that little bit of quality we showed that as well. "
Henderson then turned his focus to tomorrow’s visitors and what will surely be a stern challenge for his side. “Finn Harps are always a good side, even when they're losing matches they're always a good side, they try and play the game the right way. It's going to be a very tough game; we're going to have to work as hard as we did here tonight. Every one of our players will have to play to their maximum in terms of effort, skill and intelligence which is what they have been doing for the majority of this season."
Harps meanwhile will not be intimidated by their trip south and will be eager to continue their excellent recent form. Manager James Gallagher was pleased with his side’s result against Fingal last weekend. “I was delighted with the performance that the lads put in and everyone from one to eleven deserves special praise. We have now gone five games unbeaten and you can see game by game that the team is gaining confidence. Things are certainly on the up and the minute and although the performance against UCD in our game prior to Saturday was very good, we just stepped it up another level on Saturday night and got our just rewards against a very good Fingal side.”
This game will be the third against a title-challenging side in a row for Gallagher’s side and he has singled it out as an especially tough one. “It's back to the hard graft again after Tuesday night and it's going to be a really tough game for us. Going into the run of games against UCD, Fingal and Waterford, I always felt this was going to be the toughest one for us. We need to go down there nice and positive and with the same attitude as the past few weeks. We can't let the players get carried away with recent results and in truth with the group of players we have that won't happen.”
Waterford go into the game with no injury or suspension worries, defender Kenny Browne returns to the side having served a one-match suspension against Longford. Finn Harps welcome back Marc Brolly who also served a suspension in the last round of games. New signing Shane Sharkey is expected to start, having made his debut for the club against Ipswich Town on Tuesday. Top-scorer Conor Gethins, who scored against Waterford earlier in the season, is still missing through injury along with Johnny Havlin. Oisin McMenamin and Mark Forker also miss out as they are still with the Irish squad at the World University Games in Belgrade.
Extratime.ie Prediction: Both sides will be confident but I expect Waterford’s superior firepower up front to make the difference, 2-0 to the home side.
About Dean Hayes
Dean covers Waterford United and, due to a challenge from Gareth, writes in an increasingly Gonzo style. Having found himself with a considerable surplus of a culinary herb, Dean founded sister 'site extrathyme.ie some years … View Full Profile