Rasper of a volley from 25 yards
Report by Jack Duignan. Jack is a secondary school student in Coola’
Match Report
Matthew Smith’s wonder strike on 9 minutes was enough for Waterford to take the three points against Rovers on Friday, despite Alex Cooper rounding Waterford keeper Brian Murphy but failing to execute his cutback. The result bolsters Waterford up to 3rd, and in a prime position to qualify for Europe next season. The loss leaves Rovers 6th, level on points with St. Pats and with work to do to steal a European place with 5 games left in the season.
Waterford had plenty of outgoings earlier in the week, with their previous manager John Sheridan departing for our very own Paul Cook’s Wigan side. Fran Rockett took over on Thursday and will remain until the end of the season at the least.
Onto the game anyway, the start was even until a penalty shout early on when Alex Cooper unleashed a strike which appeared to strike an arm when it was blocked but the muted appeals from the Rovers bench were quickly waved away by Sean Grant. Waterford switched on from there and hit the front spectacularly after 9 minutes. A long ball forward from Robbie Weir split Rovers’ centre backs and caused panic in the back, leaving Matthew Smith unmarked to execute a rasper of a volley from 25 yards which soared past the helpless Ed McGinty on its way to the top corner. That was just the start they needed after their previous 6-1 loss to Shams in Tallaght on Monday. After that, the game fell into a slow tempo until the 23rd minute, when Cooper picked Tunmise Sobowale’s pocket and steamed towards goal – rounding Brian Murphy in sticks – but the cavalry couldn’t arrive in time for our number 8 and his cutback was intercepted. After this altercation, Rovers had the upper hand in possession, with David Cawley having a cross-shot saved at the cusp of half time.
Half time then came and went, with Rovers out from the team talk first, laying the challenge for the Waterford players. And a challenge it was, with Coughlan stinging Murphy’s gloved palms withinr 20 seconds of the half starting. It was clear that the momentum wasn’t going anywhere for the time being, with Cooper hitting straight at Murphy after some good buildup after 48 minutes. Waterford then threatened to hit us on the break but some excellent sweeping from Ed McGinty (whose job was made harder due to the brutal sun) denied the onrushing Fitzgerald. David Cawley’s shirt was manhandled by the Waterford midfielders and suffered a tear, our longstanding number 22 with a temporary change to 33 to see out the game in. It was around then that Waterford began to wrest control of the game, with Kyle Callan-McFadden with a huge sliding tackle inside the area on 64 minutes. Liam Buckley then hooked Alex Cooper and Ryan De Vries for Ronan Murray and Jesse Devers respectively with 20 minutes left. A minute later, Junior went for an audacious overhead kick from a tantalising cross but was unable to connect. Jesse Devers then had a chance with a cutback but it couldn’t reach anyone. From then, it became attack versus defence as Waterford continued to drop deeper and deeper. Unfortunately for us, we couldn’t find a way to pierce Waterford’s low block. Darragh Noone came on after 84 minutes for Junior, but he didn’t have time to influence the game in any significant manner. Ultimately, we lacked pace in transition to really threaten Waterford.
Teams
ROVERS: E McGinty; L Banks, G Buckley, K McFadden, R Donelon; D Cawley, N Morahan; J Ogedi-Uzokwe (D Noone 84), R De Vries (J Devers 70), A Cooper (R Murray 70); R Coughlan
WATERFORD: B Murphy; T Sobowale, J Davidson, R McCourt, T Wilson; R Weir, N O’Keefe (S Griffin 74); W Fitzgerald (W Longbottom 83), J Martin (K Byrne 72), A Coote; M Smith..
Ref: Sean Grant
Rovers Ratings
Ed McGinty: 6 – Distribution and sweeping was good. Nothing he could’ve done for goal.
Lewis Banks: 5 – Didn’t offer enough going forward on the overlap.
Garry Buckley: 6 – Lost Smith for goal but a solid performance otherwise.
Kyle Callan-McFadden: 6 – Led well from the back.
Regan Donelon: 7 – Operated well with Cooper down the left.
Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe: 6 – Didn’t get the ball enough to make a huge difference. Taken off after 84 minutes.
David Cawley: 8 – A good performance from our midfield dynamo. Was everywhere on the pitch, nearly getting a goal/assist before half time.
Niall Morahan: 6 – Wasn’t progressive enough to hit Waterford where we needed to hit them.
Alex Cooper: 7 – The left side was a happy hunting ground for both Cooper and Donelon. Cooper nearly got a goal after 23 minutes after Sobowale’s slip. Deserved a rest after 70 hard minutes.
Ronan Coughlan: 6 – Was isolated up top at times. Tested Murphy well at the start of the second half.
Ryan De Vries: 5 – Didn’t show for the ball, and when he did, was unable to hurt Waterford. He’ll be disappointed with his performance. Subbed after 70 minutes.
Jesse Devers: 6 – Did well when he came on, combining well on the left side.
Ronan Murray: 6 – Was hungry for the ball and performed well.
Darragh Noone: N/A – Didn’t get enough time to make an impact.
