From the tenth minute onward, Shels turned the screw on the Blues with Danny Searle's side struggling to clear their lines after sustained pressure. The best chance fell to former Blue Matty Smith but instead of finding the net, it found the rear end of a Waterford defender.
With the crowd under the impression that the onslaught was over Smith found Gavin Molloy down the left flank, with Molloy striking low across the goal face with Paul Martin beaten – the home crowd, at least for a while were quietened.
Searle was forced to make a change after 17 minutes with Yassine En-Neyah coming into the fray for the injured Roland Idowu.
The life returned to the stands moments later when the in-form Phoenix Patterson burned down the left crossing into the Shels goal mouth only for Shane Griffin to connect with too much exuberance sending his chance over the bar.
Paul Martin was needed in the 23rd minute when Sean Boyd got past Alex Baptiste, but the Blues netminder was off his line early enough to prevent the opportunity. The ensuing corner went dangerously close to billowing the net but the woodwork came to the rescue to deny Damien Duff’s team a two-goal lead.
As they approached the half-hour mark the Blues looked a bit like a rabbit in the headlights. Shels had started to lump crosses into the box from deep while the Waterford midfield struggled to retain possession in the middle of the park – something that Shels were all too happy to pounce on. If not for some sloppy attempts on goal, the scoreline could have changed in favour of the visitors.
Stephan Negru put in a nasty tackle on En-Neyah just before the halftime break, with Patterson standing over the free. The wet surface looked likely to help the young striker but he was unable to get it over or around the wall with any real threat on Brendan Clarke. While he had not contributed on the score sheet in the opening half, Patterson was putting himself around the pitch helping in defence, and stressing the accuracy of Shels passing. Raul Uche was similarly busy throughout.
When the halftime whistle blew Shels looked every bit of a Premier Division side. They hadn’t afforded Waterford an inch of space and the half chances that Waterford had were squandered.
It wasn’t long after the resumption that Waterford had their first chance. A surging run from Patterson turned the Shels defence inside out with the young Scot twisting and turning in the box to create a shot for himself – it may have been a shot or a cross, but the ball connected with the crossbar in the end.
Mark Coyle gave cause for home fans to hold their breath in the 57th minute as he struck the ball goalward on the half volley, but Paul Martin was able to fall to his left and parry the ball out of play.
Either side of the half, the game had gone slightly dead with a lot of stoppages seeping in - something Shels were happy to accommodate. Waterford meanwhile were being kept out of game.
JR Wilson fouled Patterson just outside the penalty area - a dangerous spot for Patterson who had struck frees like this in recent weeks. His shot was well hit and on target, needing Clarke to rise and tip it over the bar for Waterford’s first corner of the match. That corner kick was unfortunately wasted.
With 20 minutes left to play Shels started to pull up the busses handbrake, defending with 10 men when Waterford were in possession. At times all 11 were in their own half. Richard Taylor was introduced to the game with Danny Searle likely hoping for a set piece opportunity to surface. The flow of the game had all but disappeared at that point.
Inside the last ten minutes, Shels were in full defensive mode as they smelled the Cup final. The Blues were still unable to break down the Dubliner’s defence and badly needed a moment of magic to change the flow of the game. Junior Quitirna and his strike partner Patterson opted to run at the defence, but again Shels were able to marshal it out of play.
A lot of left-to-right passing was interrupted with Richard Taylor finding himself in space out on the left, but his shot was skied towards Butlerstown.
The 4952 Blues fans rose to their feet to try and coax something from their team as the stoppage time was being announced, but there was nothing doing. The experience and ability of Shels have proved to be too much with Damien Duff’s team earning their place in the decider at the Aviva.
Full-Time Score
Waterford FC 0 – 1 Shelbourne
