- Paul Mehigan
- Sat, Apr 19 2008
Buster Edwards didn’t do football games, but if he did they’d follow the pattern of this smash-and-grabber. With six minutes to go, Waterford United’s stonemason was getting ready to chisel the date on Gareth Cronin’s managerial headstone, but late goals from Kenny Browne and Vinny Sullivan pick-pocketed Kildare County of the point which would have been the least that their performance merited.
The first half, save for the opening five minutes, when efforts from Sullivan and Kiely went past Charlie Treacy’s upright, belonged to the away side. Their 4-4-1-1 formation was one that Waterford struggled to cope with. The returning pair of Dave Warren and Paul McCarthy never got to grips with Paul Donnelly and Colin Fortune in the engine room.
It was Fortune who had the away side’s first effort on goal after 13 minutes. His 20-yard free-kick forced Holden into a smart save. Five minutes later John Broderick hooked an excellent effort over his head towards goal. Holden back-pedalled furiously to palm the ball over.
The Thoroughbreds deservedly took the lead on the half hour. Fortune led the Waterford defence a merry dance before McCarthy finally got a blue foot on the ball. He succeeded only in deflecting it into the path of an onrushing Donnelly who unleashed a 25-yard thunderbolt that found the top corner. By the time Holden made the token dive, Kildare were celebrating in front of an RSC stand enveloped by stunned silence.
Hoovering up every second ball, Kildare continued to torture the Blues. Two minutes after they broke the deadlock Philip Gorman laid the ball off for Ciaran Kilduff who shot straight at Holden. Just on half-time Gorman himself should have doubled the score when he squandered a free header by directing it tamely wide. Waterford departed for the half time oranges to a chorus of boos.
They emerged for the second-half with a spring in their step, or rocket in their collective posterior, and should have equalised within two minutes. Vinny Sullivan delivered a measured cross for an unmarked Willie John Kiely but the number 10 somehow directed his header over the bar with the goal gaping. Kildare, who looked dangerous whenever they tested Waterford’s frail rearguard, sat back and the home side equalised on 58 minutes.
If you were ever to bet your life on a footballer William Tell-ing an apple off the top of your head, then Michael Foley would be as good a choice as any. The midfielder arrowed a glorious free-kick to Kenny Browne, who had stolen in unnoticed behind the Kildare defence. The centre-back had nothing to do but deflect his header beyond an exposed Treacy. That should have heralded a Waterford onslaught but Kildare ripped up the script for the second time.
Seven minutes after the equaliser Kilduff seized on a long ball and went through the Blues’ defence like a cannon ball through wet toilet roll. His shot was poor but so too was Holden’s save and the impressive Cathal Brady smashed the ball into an empty net.
Cronin’s last throw of the dice was to introduce Joe Mulcahy for the anonymous Karl Bermingham. It turned out to be a master-stoke. Mulcahy exploded like a firework on an otherwise dark performance. After 75 minutes he forced Treacy into a solid save after galloping past Clancy. Inevitably, Mulcahy was at the heart of Waterford’s 84th minute equaliser when Clancy was forced to foul him after another bulldozing run.
Foley, the sorcerer of the set-piece, delivered another free-kick bathed in precision onto Kenny Browne’s head for the defender’s second goal of the evening. Three minutes later Sullivan rifled a 20 yard effort just wide of the post after good work by Warren. The Blues could smell blood.
With injury time running out David Breen hoisted a long ball towards Sullivan. His first touch took him beyond the back-four and it was then that Waterford’s stuttering vehicle finally crashed through the window of Kildare’s resistance. They reached in to pilfer three points as Sullivan’s scruffy effort trickled over the line. Buster would have been proud. It’s unlikely that Garth Cronin and his team felt anything of the sort.
Waterford United: Packie Holden; Stephen Quigley, David Breen, Kenny Browne, Robbie Clarke; Dave Warren, Paul McCarthy (Gary Dunphy, 81), Karl Bermingham (Joe Mulcahy, 73), Michael Foley (Kevin Waters, 92); Vinny Sullivan, Willie John Kiely.
Subs not used: Kieran Fitzgerald, Luke Fitzpatrick.
Booked: None.
Kildare County: Charlie Treacy; Alan Clarke, Barry Clancy (Barry Slattery, 87), Michael Roche, John Brophy, Paul Donnelly, Colin Fortune, John Broderick (Kieran Harte, 56), Cathal Brady, Ciaran Kilduff (Ger Robinson, 70), Philip Gorman.
Subs not used: Austin O'Neill, Craig Mooney.
Booked: Clancy (83)
Referee: Mark Gough.
