- Pete Kelly
- Sun, Aug 04 2013
Waterford United ended the week happy, with a win over Salthill Devon that ended up as a comfortable victory but for periods was anything but.
Salthill, missing a plethora of players from would have been their strongest line-up started brightly and were a goal to the good after just two minutes. Waterford conceded a free just outside the penalty area and Dan Cunningham smacked the ball into the bottom corner. Perhaps Saunders for a keeper of his stature should have done better.
Almost immediately Craig Harding had a great chance to double the advantage, when Saunders was caught in several minds under pressure from Brian Geraghty, but he could not keep his effort on target. In football however the wind of change can blow quickly and after ten minutes Waterford were level. Good work down the right by Drohan, who would go on to capture an of the match status, saw Sullivan set up Marco Chindea who calmly arrived at the far post unopposed and slotted home the equaliser.
This goal seemed to invigorate the visitors and they started to enjoy their best spell of the game, with Drohan again to the fore and Sullivan looking very lively upfront. However it was Salthill Devon who lame closest to breaking the deadlock after 26 minutes when first Geraghty and then Harding came within whiskers of adding to the home sides tally, with the Waterford defence in disarray.
The game ebbed and flowed up to the break, with Keane saving comfortably from a Meade free kick on 33 minutes, while two minutes from the break Chindea scuffed a chance after Mernagh and Drohan had been prominent in the build-up.
The game swung in the opening six minutes in the second period. Drohan whacked in a long shot, taking the ball from a quick throw in, which deceived Keane and the visitors were in front in the second minute. If that was a body blow to Salthill the penalty awarded on 15 minutes was crushing. Phillip Drohan drove into the box with the ball, tackled by Shane O'Rourke, went down like a man who had been shot and the referee pointed to the spot. Amazingly the referee who was only a few yards yellow carded Dan Cunningham for 'having a word' with Drohan and took no action against O'Rourke, who had clearly won the ball. Meade easily tucked away the spot kick.
Visibly rattled by the penalty decision the young Salthill side battle on but were only hanging on at times. They introduced two more teenagers in Paddy Madden and Ryan Ludden for a taste league football, while Waterford also used the bench with Ben Ryan and Gavin Donovan joining the fray.
Waterford notched up their fourth goal with just under 15 minutes remaining - fortuitous for them and a calamity for Salthill Devon. Robbie Gaul squared up to a routine clearance only to have his attempt ricochet off the back of Conor Whittle's head and loop over James Keane into the goal. As if to add insult to injury a torrent of rain started almost straight away and lasted until the final whistle.
Salthill Devon: James Keane; Shane O'Rourke, (Evan Preston Kelly), Colm Horgan, Robbie Gaul, Cian Fadden; Alex Byrne, Craig Harding, Conor Barry, Brain Geraghty; Oscar Sibanda (Paddy Madden), Dan Cunningham (Ryan Ludden).
Subs not used: Andrew Walsh, Marvin Lunga.
Booked: O'Rourke (51), Cunningham (51).
Waterford United: Charles Sanders; Conor Whittle, Patrick Barrett, Seamus Long, Dylan Mernagh (Gavin Donovan); Peter Higgins, Marco Chindea (Ben Ryan), Kevin O'Connor, Philip Drohan; Conor Meade (Danny Furlong), Vinny Sullivan.
Subs not used: Francis Rocket, Robbie McLarney.
Booked: O'Connor (24), Long (75).
Referee: Ray Matthews.
Attendance: 115
Extratime Man of the Match: Phillip Drohan (Waterford United).
