Waterford 0
Drogheda United 7
Brendan White reports from the RSC
DROGHEDA UNITED made light work of Waterford FC’s youngsters as they eased to a 7-0 win in the RSC on Saturday evening.
With the hosts forced to field their U19 side due to the first team being deemed as close contacts of a confirmed Covid-19 case, Drogheda United took full advantage to pick up the three points.
Waterford started brightly with a spell of early possession for Mike Geoghegan’s side.
It was the visitors, though, who began to create chances; Daniel O’Reilly and Mark Doyle both just off target from inside the Waterford penalty area.
The depleted Blues team could only hold out until the 16th minute — Darragh Markey skipped past two challenges before finishing beyond Kyle Cooke from a tight angle.
One became two as Drogheda United made their dominance count midway through the first half. Jake Hyland curled in the corner and Mark Doyle fired home at the front post to make it 2-0.
Doyle became the provider two minutes later when his expertly weighted pass found the run of Dane Massey and he made no mistake for 3-0.
Jamie Brazil and Liam Kervick linked up well for Waterford on the edge of Drogheda’s penalty area but Daniel O’Reilly’s important block prevented a run at goal.
Kyle Cooke saved from Jake Hyland before Chris Lyons made it 4-0; finishing from close range from James Brown’s driven cross.
Drogheda were showing no mercy and made it 5-0 on the stroke of half-time. Lyons was fouled in the penalty area and he fired the spot-kick past Cooke.
The visitors continued to create chances with Markey finding O’Reilly but the defender headed wide of Cooke’s goal. Substitute Brandon Bermingham then worked well with Markey down the right but the former could only hit the side netting.
Tim Clancy’s side added a sixth with a quarter of an hour left with Massey firing home from a tight angle on the left. O’Reilly almost added a seventh as the minutes ticked on but young keeper Cooke did well to touch the ball onto the crossbar.
At the other end, an excellent ball from Callum Stringer sent Liam Kervick away down the right but O’Reilly did well to clear Kervick’s dangerous cross.
Drogheda did make it 7-0 with three minutes to go; Killian Phillips taking advantage of a loose ball in a packed penalty area to stab home and complete the scoring.
Waterford FC: Kyle Cooke, Killian Griffin, Sam Morrissey, Cian Browne, Liam Kervick, Graham O’Reilly (Alan Dunwoody 77), Callum Stringer, Ivan Homoki (Michael Quinlan 56), Jamie Lee (Paul Omotosho 36), Jamie Brazil (Jamie Maher 77)
Drogheda United: David Odumosu, Killian Phillips, Dane Massey, Daniel O’Reilly, Conor Kane, James Brown (Charles Mutawe 67), Darragh Markey (Luke Heeney 71), Gary Deegan, Jake Hyland (James Clarke 61), Mark Doyle (Brandon Bermingham 61), Chris Lyons (Jordan Adeyemo 61).
Referee: Ben Connolly
