Reporting courtesy of Matt Keane
Shamrock Rovers remain top of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division following this victory in the RSC on Friday night. The sides were level at the interval but the Hoops took full advantage of poor defending in the second period to run out easy winners.
A good Waterford move that saw John Martin fed the ball to Adam O’Reilly, who then released Eric Molloy down the left side, and his shot from 16 yards took a deflection off defender Sean Hoare that wrong footed Rovers keeper Alan Mannus as the hosts were dreaming of recording back to back wins.
Shamrock Rovers nearly responded with an equalising goal four minutes later when Graham Burke flicked the ball out to the left for the in rushing Liam Scales, but his first time strike was well held by Blues goalkeeper Brian Murphy.
Referee Adriano Reale was the centre of action on 14 minutes when he awarded the visitors what looked a soft penalty after judging that Jamie Mascoll handled a Sean Gannon right-wing cross, and although Brian Murphy guessed the right way, he couldn’t kept out Graham Burke’s spot kick.
The second half was only three minutes old when Rovers got their noses in front when Brian Murphy’s clearance was headed back into the Waterford half by Lee Grace, and after Cameron Evans failed to clear under pressure from Rory Gaffney, the latter steered a left-footed shot past the keeper from 20 yards.
A third Rovers goal arrived with an hour on the clock when Danny Mandroiu’s long ball from midfield spotted the run of Aaron Greene out on the right, and his cross into the penalty area picked out Graham Burke, who couldn’t miss from close-range.
It was another defence lapse that saw Stephen Bradley’s side grab a fourth goal on 68 minutes when Mannus long kick out saw Aaron Greene knock the ball on to Rory Gaffney before receiving the return pass to steer a right-footed shot from 14 yards to the left-hand corner past a helpless Brian Murphy. WATERFORD FC: Brian Murphy, Darragh Power, Cameron Evans (Tunmise Sobowale ’70), Jack Stafford, Jamie Mascoll, Eric Molloy, Shane Griffin, Niall O’Keeffe, Adam O’Reilly (Katlego Mashigo ’77), John Martin, Prince Mutswunguma (Liam Kervick ’70) SHAMROCK ROVERS: Alan Mannus, Sean Gannon, Sean Hoare, Roberto Lopes, Lee Grace (Darragh Nugent ’70), Liam Scales, Danny Mandroiu, Chris McCann (Gary O’Neill ’67), Graham Burke (Ronan Finn ’67), Rory Gaffney (Aidomo Emakhu ’70), Aaron Greene (Dean Williams ’70). Referee: Adriano Reale (Kildare)
