Waterford FC 2 Drogheda United 1

Waterford FC’s bid to end their winless streak finally saw the light of day as they fought back to secure a dramatic winner from the penalty spot in their rearranged SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division clash with Drogheda United played in very difficult conditions at the RSC.

Heavy rain forced the postponement of the same game a month ago and there was no let up in the wind and rain this evening as both sides fought valiently to play some decent football in the trying circumstances.

Graham Coughlan made one change which was enforced by the injury to Jordan Houston on Friday evening so replacement Dean McMenamy kept the jersey this evening.

Drogheda took full advantage of the wind to break the deadlock on six minutes when Brandon Kavanagh swung a corner towards the near post and it was Andy Quinn who got the flick on for Mark Doyle to touch home.

Waterford managed to level the game ten minutes before the break when Will Johnson’s long throw in was flicked on by Kevin Long to Padraig Amond and his touch found Tommy Lonergan to fire home his sixth goal of the season.

A largely forgettable second half exploded to life near the end as a McMenamy low free kick just needed a touch to the net but there was no Blue near enough and two minutes into added time, Jorgen Voilas chested the ball back to Long who fired just over.

And when everyone thought the game would peter out, Lonergan made one final surging run into the area. He went to lift the ball over the advancing Talley who appeared to make contact and referee Neil Doyle pointed to the spot.

After a long delay as Drogheda argued their case, Lonergan stepped up to fire beyond the goalkeeper and into the net. In the aftermath Drogheda manager Kevin Long was shown a second yellow card and the Blues held on for another four minutes until Doyle signalled for the celebrations to begin.

Waterford FC: McMullan, Couto, Johnson, Mahon, Cann, Long, McMenamy, Heeney (Faria 75′), Noonan (Voilas 63′), Amond, Lonergan

Drogheda United: Talley, Agbaje, Kane, Quinn (Burney 46′), Keeley (Cruise 53′), Kavanagh (Godden 67′), Oluwa, Doyle, Farrell, Brennan, Davis

Referee: Marc Lynch