St Patrick’s Athletic 4 Waterford FC 1

Despite taking an early lead, defensive frailties once again cost Waterford FC dearly as they lost out to a dominant St Patrick’s Athletic side at Inchcore.

New Manager Graham Coughlan had only a couple of days with the squad but has already stamped his presence with two changes to the side that secured a share of the spoils against Dundalk on Monday evening. Kevin Long returned after injury while Sam Glenfield started in place of Evan McLaughlin.

And they got the perfect start as another corner routine produced a goal. Benny Couto’s delvery was met by Tommy Lonergan and they ball ended in the net after a deflection off John Mahon’s head.

The Saint’s dominated the game but had to wait until injury time at the end of the first half to level the game when Sam Glenfield tugged Barry Baggley inside the area and Rib Harvey had an easy decision.

Chris Forrester dispatched the spot kick and the game turned as Pats went into the break brimming with confidence and continued it after the restart with former Blue Zach Elbouzedi putting them in front just before the hour when he took advantage of a loose touch from Jordan Houston. He doubled his tally with a cracking curling effort to the top corner three minutes later and provided the assist for Ryan Edmondson 13 minutes from time when a quick counterattack saw him free on the left and he slipped it to Edmondson who made no mistake to secure the points for St Pats.

St Patrick’s Athletic: Anang, Turner, Redmond, Hoare, Elbouzedi (Breslin 83′), Forrester (Lennon 79′), Leavy (Palmer 78′), Nugent, Baggley (Rooney 87′), Browne, Edmondson (Mata 79′)

Waterford FC: Doherty, Mahon, Long, Cann, Houston (Faria 75′), Couto, Noonan (Voilas 82′), McMenamy (Johnson 68′), Glenfield (Heeney 46′), Amond (Carty 82′), Lonergan,

Referee: Rob Harvey