League Report: Treaty United 2 - 1 Waterford

Michael Cooke reports from the Markets Field

Treaty United returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Waterford in the SSE Airtricity League First Division at the Markets Field on Friday night.

Matt Keane and Enda Curran were on target for Tommy Barrett’s men while Anthony Wordsworth came off the bench to score the only goal for the visitors.

Waterford were in action for the first time in 11 days and would’ve been keen on improving on such underwhelming form beforehand which included a defeat to Cork City and an unconvincing win over Wexford.

Ian Morris’ men endured a scarcity of meaningful chances in the opening half but could’ve opened the scoring on three minutes.

Brian Murphy’s goal kick found Phoenix Patterson who outpaced Mark Walsh before cutting inside from the left and drilling the ball into the side net from inside the box.

Goal scoring had proven difficult for Treaty recently; the hosts returned one goal from three matches before tonight’s game but were off the mark on six minutes.

Marc Ludden's left-wing cross hit off Enda Curran before finding it's way to Matt Keane who drilled his shot low into the net from inside the box.

Three minutes later, Tommy Barret’s men could’ve doubled the margin and Ludden’s high-quality service was yet again to the fore.

He whipped in a cross from the left which found Keane whose volleyed effort deflected off Tunmise Sobowale and out for a corner kick.



Callum McNamara subsequently connected with Ludden's delivery but his effort deflected off Cian Kavanagh and out for another corner which amounted to nothing.

Waterford were highly fancied to emerge victorious but Ian Morris’ men first-half display didn’t reflect the pre-match expectations.

The visitors found it hard to break down the Limerick men but a rare scoring opportunity presented itself on the half-hour mark.

Tunde Sobowale's cross was collected by Niall O'Keeffe and his powerful shot was parried by Jack Brady resulting in a corner-kick which they couldn’t exploit leaving the Blues trailing 1-0 at the break.

Waterford’s chances of addressing the deficit were dealt a major blow four minutes into the second half when they were down to ten men.

Sobowale was shown a straight red card following a dangerous tackle on Enda Curran and nine minutes later, the Treaty striker doubled the margin.



Curran connected with Charlie Fleming’s right-wing cross and headed home his fourth goal of the season. Suddenly the hosts were two goals clear.

Waterford eventually managed to pull one pack with 15 minutes remaining and it was Wordsworth who came off the bench to narrow the margin.

Firstly, the Blues were awarded a free-kick and Junior Armando's delivery was knocked behind by Curran and out for a corner-kick.

The resultant delivery from Junior Armando found it's way to Kevin Joshua whose shot was deflected into the path of Wordsworth and he headed it into the net.

Treaty were also keen on introducing reinforcements and the anticipations increased among local fans when magical winger Willie Armshaw was brought on.

Armshaw tried his luck on 84 minutes when he cut inside from the right and his shot deflected off Joshua and out for a corner-kick.

The hosts came close again two minutes later. Armshaw cut inside from the left and rounded Eddie Nolan before his cross was parried away by Murphy and out for a corner-kick.

Stephen Christopher opted for a short corner and he passed it to Ludden whose cross was met by substitute Dean George who only managed to hit the side net.

Treaty missed two further chances in injury time, firstly Joel Coustrain was denied from close-range by Murphy before Dean George drilled his shot across the face of the goal.

Such misses proved to be irrelevant as Treaty collected only their second victory of the season while Waterford now have two defeats from as many games.

Treaty United: Jack Brady; Mark Walsh, Marc Ludden, Joe Gorman, Charlie Fleming; Callum McNamara, Matt Keane, Joe Collins (William Armshaw 76), Stephen Christopher; Kieran Hanlon (Dean George 60), Enda Curran (Joel Coustrain 76).
Subs not used: Conor Winn, Scott Kirkland, Martin Coughlan, Fionn Doherty, Jack Arra, Lee Mulready.
Booked: Matt Keane (80).

Waterford: Brian Murphy; Niall O'Keeffe (Louis Britton 62), Eddie Nolan (c), Jeremie Milambo (Anthony Wordsworth 62), Kevin Joshua; Tunmise Sobowale, Junior Quitirna, Phoenix Patterson (Roland Idowu 73), Shane Griffin, Yassine En-Neyah; Cian Kavanagh.
Subs not used: Paul Martin, Darragh Power, George Forrest, Liam Kervick, Nigel Aris, Callum Stringer.
Booked: Junior Quitirna (28) Roland Idowu (87).
Sent off: Tunmise Sobowale (49).

Referee: Gavin Colfer
extratime.com Player of the Match: Marc Ludden (Treaty United)

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