Barry impressed with Blues improvement

After a nightmarish start to the new league season, Waterford United have bounced back to bury the memory of that 6-0 defeat to Wexford Youths on opening night by winning their next two games. The impressive 3-1 result at home to Limerick was followed on Friday night by a battling 1-0 victory over SD Galway.

Commenting on the drastic change in atmosphere around the club over the last three weeks, manager Paul O’Brien spoke in his pre-game programme notes about the difference a week can make in the world of football. This sentiment is equally shared by club icon Alan Barry, now an integral part of O’Brien’s backroom staff.
 

“I think I’d go with that – a week can make an awful lot of difference, either for you or against you”, said Barry immediately following the SD game. “But, at the moment, we’re getting it all for us [and] we’ll take everything on board and move on from here.”
 

“[The performance] was good, it was good enough to get the three points. Alright, we rode our luck a couple of times but, as I say, they’re the kind of breaks that either go for you or against you and we’ll take them when they go for us.”
 

The only goal of the game came by way of a stunning 25-yard free-kick from Gary Dempsey. A strike delivered with such confidence that one would be forgiven for thinking that the midfielder regularly repeats the feat in training, though Barry assures otherwise: 
 

“[Laughs] No - he doesn’t, no. So it was extra-special that it worked on the pitch for us tonight. But I just said to him, you know, that he would’ve known from the very minute it left his boot that it was going into the top corner. It was a peach of a free-kick and more of that will do now for us.”
 

Ben Ryan scooped Extratime’s man-of-the-match award with an excellent display for Waterford, and Barry was in agreement as  to the winger’s evident talents – as well as revealing something of a personal milestone in the youngster’s career. 
 

“He’s great, absolutely great. I thought himself and PC [Paul Carey] in particular, the two of them, worked the right flank [well] and combined brilliantly during the game. But I think you’re right, you know, Ben put in a storming performance tonight and it’s just what we wanted. Funnily enough he remarked that it’s the first time that he’s got back-to-back victories in the League of Ireland so it’s all things on the up for us.”
 

Barry was also pleased by the sight of a Blues defence building on a solid showing against Limerick and appearing much more secure than on the opening night.

 
“It did, yeah. There are probably a few things that we could improve on. First off, it was great to get the first clean sheet of the season – again, it’s something to build on. But we can improve on a few things and we’ll keep doing that.”

And the team can now look to use some valuable momentum to drive towards the summit of the First Division table. There may even be talk of the ‘Fortress RSC’ if Waterford continue in their current vein; they currently boast a 100% record in front of their own fans.

“Funnily enough I never even thought about it, a 100% home record! But back-to-back wins, clean sheet; we’ll take all the positives from the games and move on, push on. And hopefully more to come.”