Waterford FC 0 Derry City 1
by Matt Keane
Waterford FC playing under the guidance of their new manager Marc Bircham lost a close fought game to Derry City at the RSC on Friday evening.
The game was three minutes old when Derry struck for the lead goal when goalkeeper Brian Murphy gave away a needless free kick out on the left that saw Will Patching whip the ball to the front post where Ronan Boyce got in front of Eric Molloy to plant a close-range header to the net.
Will Patching could have doubled the lead for Derry City on 17 minutes when he caught Darragh Power in possession of the ball as he tried to come out of defence, but Murphy made a fine stop with James Akintunde failing to convert the rebound that Jamie Mascoll cleared.
It was the men from Foyleside that continued to boss the contest with Brian Murphy forced into a smart save from a Patching free kick on 25 minutes before the same player cracked in a shot from distance five minutes later that was well saved by the Blues skipper.
The Blues brought a first save out of Derry keeper Nathan Gartside on 42 minutes when Eoin Toal brought down Darragh Power outside the area, but Shane Griffin, who scored in the meeting of the sides at the Brandywell Stadium, saw his effort superbly turned around the posts.
James Waite carved out a chance for himself five minutes into the second half when the winger took a pass from Shane Griffin on the right-side of the penalty area before bringing the ball onto his favoured left-foot, but his shot from outside the area was saved by Gartside.
Adam O’Reilly should have done better with a chance that fell his way on 58 minutes when James Waite slipped the ball out to the left for Jamie Mascoll, who in turn put the ball on the head of the on-loan player from Preston, but he couldn’t direct his free header on target.
It was the turn of striker John Martin to have a chance to level the tie ten minutes later when Shane Griffin was on the end of a tackle that saw Will Patching booked on 68 minutes, but although the striker got on the end of Mascoll’s delivery, his header was blocked out by Cameron McJannet.
Although Waterford were much improved in the second half, they couldn’t find an equalising goal with the closest that they came to doing so coming on 83 minutes when Jamie Mascoll shot straight at Nathan Gartside inside a crowded penalty area.
WATERFORD FC: Brian Murphy, Darragh Power, Cameron Evans, Josh Collins, Jamie Mascoll, Adam O’Reilly, Niall O’Keeffe, Eric Molloy (Cian Kavanagh ’76), Shane Griffin, James Waite, John Martin.
DERRY CITY: Nathan Gartside, Ciaran Coll, Ciaran Harkin, Eoin Toal, Cameron McJannet, Joe Thomson (Jack Malone ’74), Will Patching, Ronan Boyce, Will Fitzgerald (Darren Cole ’85), James Akintunde, Patrick Ferry (Caolan McLaughlin ’60).
Referee: John McLoughlin (Westmeath).
