Kildare County -v- Waterford United
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Station Road is the venue on Saturday evening for this intriguing clash as Kildare County play host to EA Sports Cup finalists Waterford United (kick-off 7.30pm). The Thoroughbreds will be hoping to record their first back-to-back wins of the season, but they will have it all to do against Stephen Henderson’s side, who are making a big push for promotion this season, and are currently best placed to tackle the ‘big three’ of Shelbourne, UCD and Sporting Fingal.
Philly Hughes was the big hero for County against Wexford Youths last week and his brace helped his side on their way to a 3-0 away victory in Ferrycarrig Park. This marked his first time on the score sheet since his return to the club and he has been the most dangerous attacking force for Kildare in recent weeks.
The Wexford victory was the best performance that Kildare have had under Joey Somerville, and it also saw them keeping their second clean sheet out of the last three league matches. This bodes well for the games ahead, although they did suffer a blow the last day when the experienced Davy Byrne went off with an early injury. While the introduction of Trevor Bowers went well for County the last day (the Kilmeague native got his side’s second goal), it will mean another re-shuffle from the start for the visit of Waterford. Teenage winger Orrin Farrell had returned from a two-match suspension, but will miss this game with an ankle injury.
However, Somerville has a few options that he can look to with David Long having signed after a successful trial with the club, and Colm Daly now available to make his debut after a recent injury.
On the whole, Waterford have been extremely dangerous this season, but Kildare will need to pay close attention to attacking duo Graham Cummins and Willie John Kiely who have registered 26 of the 38 goals that The Blues have scored in the league so far this year.
Henderson has a clean bill of health going into this match and, with five wins from as many encounters against Kildare, he will be fully confident of coming away with three points from this game. When they met earlier this season, at RSC Waterford on May 9th, Joey Somerville was relatively new to his post and the home side came out on top with a 2-0 victory, courtesy of goals from Kevin Waters and Kenny Browne.
Kildare actually played some good football in this match, but were clearly suffering from a lack of confidence, especially in the final third. Hopefully, now that they have rediscovered the goal scoring touch in recent weeks, they will give it a right go against Waterford and see if they can breach their back line.
Nevertheless, Waterford will still be favourites for this tie and should come away with a narrow victory on the night.
Extratime.ie Prediction: Waterford to shade it 2-1.
Philly Hughes was the big hero for County against Wexford Youths last week and his brace helped his side on their way to a 3-0 away victory in Ferrycarrig Park. This marked his first time on the score sheet since his return to the club and he has been the most dangerous attacking force for Kildare in recent weeks.
The Wexford victory was the best performance that Kildare have had under Joey Somerville, and it also saw them keeping their second clean sheet out of the last three league matches. This bodes well for the games ahead, although they did suffer a blow the last day when the experienced Davy Byrne went off with an early injury. While the introduction of Trevor Bowers went well for County the last day (the Kilmeague native got his side’s second goal), it will mean another re-shuffle from the start for the visit of Waterford. Teenage winger Orrin Farrell had returned from a two-match suspension, but will miss this game with an ankle injury.
However, Somerville has a few options that he can look to with David Long having signed after a successful trial with the club, and Colm Daly now available to make his debut after a recent injury.
On the whole, Waterford have been extremely dangerous this season, but Kildare will need to pay close attention to attacking duo Graham Cummins and Willie John Kiely who have registered 26 of the 38 goals that The Blues have scored in the league so far this year.
Henderson has a clean bill of health going into this match and, with five wins from as many encounters against Kildare, he will be fully confident of coming away with three points from this game. When they met earlier this season, at RSC Waterford on May 9th, Joey Somerville was relatively new to his post and the home side came out on top with a 2-0 victory, courtesy of goals from Kevin Waters and Kenny Browne.
Kildare actually played some good football in this match, but were clearly suffering from a lack of confidence, especially in the final third. Hopefully, now that they have rediscovered the goal scoring touch in recent weeks, they will give it a right go against Waterford and see if they can breach their back line.
Nevertheless, Waterford will still be favourites for this tie and should come away with a narrow victory on the night.
Extratime.ie Prediction: Waterford to shade it 2-1.
About Daire Walsh
Daire Walsh began reporting for Extratime in 2009, when he covered Kildare County's games in the League Of Ireland First Division. He currently reports on games involving the league's Dublin sides and also Bray Wanderers. … View Full Profile