Blues off the bottom as 18 year wait is over
Dundalk 1 Waterford FC 3
Matt Keane
The last time Waterford won in Oriel Park was in January 2003 but the long wait for a victory in the Co Louth venue came to an end on Friday night when the Blues came from behind to defeat the Lilywhites. It was Marc Bircham's first win as the Waterford manager and the outcome has lifted the team off the bottom of the Premier League table.
The new gaffer who was taking charge for just the 4th time worked extremely hard with the squad for the past two weeks and the hard graft certainly paid rich dividends in this match. The new owner of the club Richard Forrest and the new chairman Mitchel Cowling were present to watch a brilliant display by the visitors.
Waterford were undone by a penalty kick on 31 minutes when Ole Erik Midtskogen got the first run on defender Cameron Evans, and after a tussle for the ball, referee John McLoughlin judged that the Dundalk attacker was pulled back, and Patrick Hoban beat Brian Murphy from 12 yards.
After manager Bircham questioned the mentality of his players when conceding against Bohs before the break, his side struck for an equalising goal a minute before the break when Adam O’Reilly played a brilliant through ball for John Martin, who got in behind the Dundalk defence, to slip the ball past Alessio Abibi.
As new Waterford FC owner Richard Forrest and new chairman Mitchell Cowling watched on from the main stand at Oriel Park, they nearly saw their new club fall behind once again on 53 minutes when Michael Duffy set up Hoban out on the right, and after turning onto his left-foot, his effort was deflected over the bar.
Hoban did have the ball in the back of the Waterford net on the hour mark, but the flag ruled his effort out for offside, before a super advantage from referee McLoughlin gave Waterford the chance to shock the hosts with 62 minutes on the clock.
John Martin was on the receiving end of a late tackle out near the right-hand touchline, but Darragh Power got onto the loose ball, which prompted the referee to wave play on, and the full-back slipped the ball to Shane Griffin, who steered a left-footed shot past a helpless Abibi.
It took a wonder save from Waterford FC goalkeeper Brian Murphy to keep his side in front on 71 minutes when Patrick McEleney got free down the right-side before he cracked in a powerful shot destined for the far corner, but the net minder got a hand on the ball to keep it out.
Bircham’s men certainly weren’t resting on their laurels at this stage, and they grabbed a third goal that shocked Oriel Park four minutes later when Shane Griffin played a short corner to Jamie Mascoll, who crossed to the far post where John Martin bundled the ball home from close-range.
The Blues should have been awarded a penalty with just under ten minutes remaining in the contest when John Martin was fouled in the area, but referee McLoughlin pointed for a corner kick.
DUNDALK FC: Alessio Abibi, Cameron Dummigan, Andy Boyle, Sonni Nattestad, Val Adedokun, Patrick McEleney (Jesus Perez ’88), Sam Stanton, Greg Sloggett (Sean Murray ’72), Michael Duffy, Ole Erik Midtskogen (Daniel Kelly ’65), Patrick Hoban.
WATERFORD FC: Brian Murphy, Darragh Power, Kyle Ferguson, Cameron Evans, Jack Stafford, Jamie Mascoll, Prince Mutswunguma (Eric Molloy ’79), Shane Griffin (Cian Kavanagh ’84), Niall O’Keeffe, Adam O’Reilly, John Martin
Referee: John McLoughlin (Roscommon).
