- Niall Newberry
- Sat, May 05 2018
Niall Newberry reports from the RSC
Waterford once again underlined their title credentials on Friday night with a 2-1 win over top-of-the-table Dundalk in front of a bumper crowd at the Regional Sports Centre.
A frantic finish to the first half – which saw no less than nine minutes of additional time due to an injury to Dundalk skipper Stephen O'Donnell – saw Ismahil Akinade net a brace to give Waterford a two-goal advantage.
Ronan Murray pulled one back for the Lilywhites with a sublime free kick, but Waterford managed to hold out for the win and were good value in doing so.
Alan Reynolds made two changes from the team that won at Bohemians on Monday with Dave Webster and Gavan Holohan returning from suspension in place of Derek Daly and Faysel Kasmi.
Dundalk were unchanged following their 5-0 demolition of St Patrick's Athletic at Oriel Park on the same night.
The opening exchanges provided little in the way of chances but the visitors were in reasonable control.
Murray hit a deflected free kick straight at Lawrence Vigouroux before Michael Duffy curled his effort just wide after getting away from Waterford midfielder Stanley Aborah.
The hosts then sprang into life and Gary Rogers produced a magnificent save to deny Akinade, who got his head to an Aborah cross, before the latter went in for a challenge with O'Donnell.
That resulted in the Dundalk captain being stretchered off the pitch and subsequently taken to hospital.
Waterford scored two goals in quick succession directly after that stoppage – both from Akinade, who was a constant thorn in the side of Dundalk throughout his three-year stint with Bohemians.
The first saw Akinade needing treatment after leaping like a salmon to beat Rogers and head the Blues into the lead before doubling their advantage moments later, firing home after the Dundalk defence had again failed to clear their lines.
It seemed a long way back for the Lilywhites, but they did give themselves a lifeline in the ninth minute of stoppage time when John Mountney was fouled by Paul Keegan and, from the resulting free-kick, Murray gave Vigouroux absolutely no chance.
Dundalk went in search of an equaliser after the break and Duffy fired wide before Patrick Hoban, who looked unusually off the pace, headed Murray's cross straight at Vigouroux.
The latter came after Holohan had gone close just after the restart for Waterford, who managed the game excellently.
Then came the game's major talking point on the hour mark when Duffy, through on goal, went down under the challenge of Dylan Barnett in what looked to be a stonewall penalty.
Referee Derek Tomney booked the Dundalk winger for simulation, leaving Stephen Kenny visibly incensed.
Kenny's side continued to press for an equaliser but in truth didn't create enough chances, with their counterparts looking increasingly dangerous on the counter.
Keegan came close to all but sealing the points when his effort from outside the box flew past Rogers before crashing off the post.
Dundalk knew that the chance would come and it did, with just over 15 minutes to play, when Robbie Benson shot agonisingly wide when it looked easier to score after being played in by Hoban.
The Lilywhites continued to throw the kitchen sink without ever really testing Vigouroux and it was Rogers who had to make a good save late on at the other end from a Barnett shot in what was the last meaningful action of this top-of-the-table clash.
Waterford: Lawrence Vigouroux; Dylan Barnett, Rory Feely, Dave Webster, Garry Comerford; Paul Keegan, Stanley Aborah (John Martin 69), Gavin Holohan, Bastien Hery; Ismahil Akinade, Courtney Duffus (Sander Puri 84).
Subs not used: Niall Corbet (gk), Derek Daly, Dean O’Halloran, Faysel Kasmi, Dean Walsh.
Booked: Stanley Aborah (39), Ismahil Akinade (59), John Martin (72).
Dundalk: Gary Rogers; Sean Hoare, Brian Gartland, Daniel Cleary (Jamie McGrath 46), Dean Jarvis; John Mountney, Stephen O’Donnell (Chris Shields 45), Robbie Benson, Michael Duffy; Ronan Murray (Dylan Connolly 63), Patrick Hoban.
Subs not used: Gabriel Sava (gk), Dane Massey, Krisztian Adorjan, Marco Tagbajumi.
Booked: Dean Jarvis (18), Michael Duffy (60).
Referee: Derek Tomney.
Attendance: 3,508 (official).
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Bastien Hery (Waterford).
