Sometimes the cards are stacked against you.
This evening Waterford lined out in the RSC knowing that they needed a result better than that of Finn Harps if they were to avoid a relegation play off.
While proceedings played out at the RSC, Ollie Horgan's team were busy knocking in four against Longford to dampen any hopes the Blues had of securing their status in the top flight.
The game at the RSC was well contested with Waterford holding a share of the possession and putting a stern challenge up to the 2021 runners up.
The first proper chance of the game came early on through Robbie Benson who lofted the ball in on top of Brian Murphy, but it dinked off the cross bar and over.
Pat’s followed up their early aggression with some more dangerous set pieces; Billy King’s free kick clipping the wall on its way to goal and dribbling out for a corner.
The first real chance came for the Blues when Junior Quitirna found some space in behind the visitor’s defence, chesting the ball down and controlling it well; but was ultimately well marshalled by the Pat’s centre back pairing.
The Dublin outfit could have easily gone to the break 1-nil up if a raking corner had only found a spare head in the box, with plenty of players in space it was the chance that they had needed since the start.
The capacity crowd at the RSC never loss their voice, but when news of Harps first two quick fire goals made its way around the ground, the drums and raucousness dwindled somewhat. Two strikes in the 30th and 33rd minute set the tone in Donegal with Longford well aware that they were in for a long night.
The best chance of the first half fell to the Blues when Phoenix Patterson found plenty of space down the right side, crossed it into the box for Ronaldo Green who miss-kicked and sliced it right of the post. A huge opportunity had gone missing.
The attendance was confirmed at the start of the second half, and with 2612 people filling the RSC you could be excused for thinking this was a team were battling for survival. The crowd in full song once again.
Shortly after the break, Harps had extended their lead in Donegal to 4-nil and they knew that they were safe and secure for another twelve months as they took a victory lap in front of their home fans.
While Waterford grafted and fought for a goal, UCD were busy booking their place in the play off. Two goals for the Dublin outfit were enough to see their way past Bray.
It was a second half that went mostly the way of Pats at the Regional Sports Centre, but the closing 15 minutes saw Waterford string together several attacks.
An 85th break from Phoenix Patterson saw the tricky attacker slip and weave past three defenders, with a shot cracked off that needed Vitezslav Jaros to stop it finding the back of the net. The ensuing corner was whipped in by Junior Quitirna, with Niall O’ Keefe rising highest to head it goalward, but again Jaros was quick enough to get in its way.
When the final whistle went, the packed stand were on their feet and creating enough noise to make you think there was 10,000 in attendance.
Waterford will now go on to face UCD in the playoff next weekend with the result determining who plays Premier Division football in 2022.
