Waterford and Shelbourne Play out a cracking draw.
Shelbourne 3 Waterford United 3
Goals came like buses for the Blues in Tolka Park on Friday night last in what proved to be an astonishing match at the old Dublin venue. Having not scored for 246 minutes in the league to date, Waterford scored two within the space of three minutes in the second half and those goals played a major role in securing another draw for the local outfit. Trailing two nil at the interval, United fought back manfully to level matters on 69 minutes having missed a penalty during the course of a first half which Shelbourne dominated. The home side appeared to have won the game on 86 minutes when they went back in front but an OG in the dying seconds gave the Blues a well earned point. When it was decided to replace Jack Doherty and Peter White with Paul Quilty and Conor Meade after 58 minutes the entire course of the game changed. Waterford went to a 4-4-2 formation and ditched the idea of playing a lone striker and from then on it was Tommy Griffin's men who really looked the part. Hopefully this sublime second half display will lift the players for this Friday's massive South East Derby game match against Wexford Youths at the RSC and the Blues will get their first league win of the campaign.
With only seven minutes on the clock Conor Murphy left the keeper with no chance as he headed a Jordan Keegan corner into the net to give Shelbourne the lead, the earliest goal to be scored in the First Division this season. Waterford had a chance to get back on terms ten minutes later when William McDonagh caught Vinny Sullivan's leg as he wound up to shoot. Referee Kevin O'Regan pointed to the spot but Patrick Barrett shot, low to the left, was not enough to beat Greg Murray. Murray cleared the ball but only as far as Barrett but the Shels defence reacted quickly to clear the danger.
Despite some good Waterford pressure, the next chance of note fell to the home side on 26 minutes when Gareth Coughlan put Dylan Connolly through with only Kevin Burns to beat. His shot beat Burns but was denied by the right post. 13 minutes later Connolly made up for that miss as he fired home past the Waterford keeper to give Shelbourne a two-nil lead.
Waterford began to come back into the game and on 57 minutes Vinny Sullivan got in behind the Shelbourne defence but his shot rolled harmlessly wide. Moments later Brian Nolan beat the goalkeeper on the left hand side and chipped the ball in but there were two Shelbourne defenders on the line to clear.
Waterford pulled a goal back on 66 minutes when Conor Whittle, picking up a cleared ball from a free kick, curled the ball into the top left corner of the goal from just outside the box. Three minutes later the two Waterford substitutions combined to make it 2-2. Conor Meade sent Paul Quilty through with only the keeper to beat. Quilty rounded the keeper and tapped it into the net. With only five minutes remaining, Shelbourne regained the lead, Stephen McDonnell smashing the ball past Burns into the net. Darren Tinnelly sent over a cross from the left. Kevin Burns under pressure from a few Shels players tipped the ball on to his post but when the ball broke loose, McDonnell was in the right place to apply the finish. The Blues kept Shelbourne under pressure for the remainder of the game. The solid pressure resulted in the own goal from Lee Murtagh which means that Shelbourne dropped their first points of the season. He headed to the net after trying to clear a cross from Kevin O'Connor who had taken a pass from another Blues substitute, Kynan Rocks. That vital goal came in the 4th minute of stoppage time.
Shelbourne drop to second place in the table on goal difference behind Finn Harps while Waterford United gain one place due to goal difference. The visit of Wexford this Friday will be huge because they also have a total of three points, the same as the Blues.
Shelbourne: Greg Murray; Brian Gannon, Adam O 'Connor, William McDonagh, Lee Desmond; Stephen McDonnell, Jordan Keegan (Darren Tinnelly 76), Dylan Connolly (John Sullivan 90+1), Keith Quinn; Lee Murtagh, Conor Murphy (Gareth Coughlan 16)
Waterford United: Kevin Burns; Conor Whittle, Gavin Kavanagh, Gary Delaney, Kevin O'Connor; Jack Doherty (Conor Meade 58), Patrick Barrett, Brian Nolan, Peter White (Paul Quilty, 58); Vinny Sullivan, Philip Drohan (Kynan Rocks 90)
