Brilliant Blues deliver winning performance on the road
Waterford FC manager Keith Long saw his side move up to third in the table with a win against Dundalk.
There was a time when Waterford FC failed to compete against Dundalk but for the second game running, the Blues proved too good for their opponents as Keith Long’s men moved into clear third spot in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division after a 2-0 win at Oriel Park.
It was another excellent display on the road from Waterford as first-half goals from Connor Parsons and a cracking Dean McMenamy free-kick gave the Blues in front of a 2073 attendance a first-win at the Louth venue since a 3-1 win back in 2021 The Blues opened the scoring with some great counterattack football on 19 minutes as Long’s men scored for the first-time on an astro turf surface this season. Padraig Amond won the ball deep inside his own half to head the ball onto Christie Pattison out on the left, and after splitting the Dundalk defence to set up Connor Parsons, he held his nerve to beat Ross Munro with a neat right-footed finish.
After Connor Parsons flashed a header following a Power cross just wide on 39 minutes, John Mountney had a golden chance to level the tie for the hosts a minute later when he peeled off his marker to get on the end of a super Daryl Horgan right-wing cross, but his close-range header cleared the crossbar.
A stunning free-kick yielded the Blues a second-goal two minutes before the half-time whistle when Ben McCormack was fouled on the edge of the penalty area by a Dundalk defender, and Dean McMenamy drilled a low right-footed effort to the left-hand corner past a helpless Ross Munro.
After Dundalk tried in the second-half to find a goal to bring them back into the game, the Waterford defence really stood firm throughout with keeper Sam Sargeant denying John Mountney from a free-kick and a late Sean Keogh effort as the Blues continued their progression on their return after the mid-season break.
