Reporting by Matt Keane
An exceptional second half performance from Waterford FC saw the Blues destroy St. Patrick’s Athletic in their SSE Airtricity Premier Division clash played at Richmond Park on Friday night last as goals from Izzy Akinade, Zack Elbouzedi and Aaron Drinan gave Alan Reynolds side a dominant 3-0 success.
After the European debacle saw St. Patrick’s Athletic steal Waterford’s place in the Europa League, the Blues showed them on the field of play which club oozed class as the hosts had no answer to a second half display that had the band of Waterford fans celebrating at the final whistle.
After Aaron Simpson was forced off injured on the hour mark, his replacement Izzy Akinade struck for the lead goal on 63 minutes when he linked up with Karolis Chvedukas in a sweeping Waterford move before drilling a low right-footed shot to the left corner of the net past Brendan Clarke from 16 yards.
Cory Galvin nearly grabbed a stunning second goal five minutes later when he took advantage of a mistake in the Pat’s defence to take up possession of the ball 25-yards from goal, but his crisp right-footed shot whistled inches wide of the right-hand post with Clarke beaten.
The Blues doubled their lead with a superb second goal on 69 minutes when an excellent move saw Akinade slip the ball to Cory Galvin, who released Zack Elbouzedi and he held his composure to beat Brendan Clarke with a fine right-footed finish from inside the area.
Gary Shaw should have halved the deficit for the home side five minutes later when Jamie Lennon sent a ball into the area that Damien Delaney failed to deal with, but from six yards in front of an open goal, the Pat’s striker somehow managed to crack the ball off the post.
Aaron Drinan had a header after an Elbouzedi corner kick deflected over the bar as the Blues continued to press on 83 minutes before Rory Feely put in an unbelievable block to deny Gary Shaw what looked a certain goal at the other end two minutes later.
A brilliant Waterford third goal arrived two minutes from full time when Matt Connor produced a top save to deny David Webster and after Cory Galvin raced clear with the ball, he picked out the run of Aaron Drinan out on the right and he made no mistake when powering a right-footed shot past Clarke to put the icing on the cake.
