Waterford FC are second-bottom in the Premier Division table having failed to a lay a glove on Dundalk at the RSC on Friday night.
Andy Boyle headed the visitors in front 25 minutes in when he rose unmarked to finish off a Michael Duffy free-kick from the right.
The Blues were not short of endeavor, with the players running themselves ragged to claim something from the game but a penalty from the Dundalk captain Chris Shields and a wonder goal from Michael Duffy put sufficient daylight between the sides, and really, the game was over just after half time.
The Blues boss Kevin Sheedy said as much at full time.
"The third goal after halftime killed us off in that respect, it's a strange thing to say, but I thought that's the best football we've played, we've hit the post twice, we've hit the bar, we were in comfortable possession of the ball, more so than any game this season, and you know, taking the positives from it, the players gave 100% again, as usual, worked their socks off against a very good Dudalk team"
The corner which was headed home by Boyle will sting - as it's another set-piece goal that could have been avoided, but Sheedy did remark that it was something they had worked on prior to kick off.
"We said to the players before, you know, not to give her any silly free-kicks and corners, if they can help it. They put a high ball in and with their height they had more than us, so it was a poor goal to concede"
The biggest talking point of the evening was around the team sheet ahead of the game.
Our line up this evening… pic.twitter.com/c28O9qTroO
— Waterford FC (@WaterfordFCie) April 30, 2021
The manager decided on just three replacements, but ultimately all went unused in a game where fresh legs would have been warmly welcomed by fans and players alike.
Prior to the meeting with Boh's, Sheedy had said that the management team were firm believers that "if you're good enough, you're old enough" and had made use of as many as six academy players in recent games, with more academy players brought in for training with the first team, but last night the youngsters were not to be given a chance.
Sheedy clarified his decision after the game.
"If I go back to the St. Pat's game where we had seven players booked, St. Pats had no players booked. We puts these Academy players on the bench last game, to give them the first-team experience, to give them, you know, what it's like to be involved in a match day training and in a warm up with the first team and to be around and see what goes on in the dressing room."
"That was just for matchday experience, this time, because we only had two outfield players, I wasn't going to be prepared to put any Academy players at risk, which means if we had to put one of them on; we're not getting the protection from the officials, particularly the referees, and I'm not prepared to put a young player's career on the line when I know he's not going to get full protection. There was two challenges made tonight and I'm sure if they were Waterford players made them they would have been two red cards."
Elsewhere, another challenge lies ahead for the team, who now must be very low on confidence. Shamrock Rovers will host The Blues on Monday night at the Tallaght Stadium, with Sheedy hoping the home performance can be built on.
"There was a lot of good performances on the pitch and we made sure we've told the players that we can't ask for any more effort than that. I thought that was the best we had we played this season with the ball. We looked dangerous. As I say we hit the bar once, we hit the post twice, we looked dangerous. So if we can keep improving on our attacking play then we become a better team"
You can hear more from Kevin Sheedy as well as the post-match analysis here.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2tW64IhEo1HKJlZ42WqWno?si=4RCDpW6kTd-H7Cf-DYELUQ
