Champions hit magnificent dozen in opening rout
Waterford Oscar Traynor team that beat the Cork Business League in the Oscar Traynor trophy.
After a thrilling final win over the Mayo League last season, the Waterford League got the defence of their title off to the most perfect start when they trounced the Cork Business League in facile style on the new Ben Wadding Park astro facility on Sunday afternoon last.
With Conor Coad’s side hitting five goals in the first-half, they went onto score seven times in the second period against a visiting side that were outplayed and outclassed by a home side that will be disappointed with conceding three goals, but happy with some of the football that they played.
The first of the 12 Waterford goals arrived with four minutes on the clock when Michael Brennan sent over a left-wing cross that saw Jeff da Silva knock the ball back across goal for Alex Phelan, and after his shot was blocked, Dara O’Brien fired home the close-range rebound that took a deflection.
A sweeping Waterford move yielded a second goal on 12 minutes when Brennan once again found space for himself out on the left, and he put the ball on a plate for the unmarked Phelan, and he beat Padraic McCarthy from deep inside the penalty area.
The Cork Business League managed to get themselves right back into the contest sixty seconds later when centre forward Juan de Villa took full advantage of a mistake in the Waterford defence to fire past the helpless Gavin Buckley from 12 yards.
It didn’t take Waterford long to regain their two-goal lead as within a minute, Conor Kilgannon found space for himself out on the right, and he put in a brilliant cross that picked out the run of Alex Phelan, who applied his second finish of the day.
Conor Coad’s side were in rampant form at this stage as Phelan grabbed his hat-trick on 20 minutes when the brilliant Michael Brennan put in a wonderful cross from the left onto the head of the centre forward, and he planted a header past a helpless McCarthy.
Waterford were in total control of the tie at this stage and they added a fifth goal of the half from the penalty spot on 38 minutes. Brennan once again played his part to play in Phelan, who was cleared out of it by the keeper, and he picked himself up to dispatch a first-half four-timer.
The visitors were hoping that they could damage limitations in the second-half and within two minutes of the restart, they conceded a sixth goal as Coad’s chargers continued to dominate. Jeff da Silva swung over a right-wing cross that picked out the run of Darryl Walsh, and the skipper powered a close-range header to the roof of the net.
A second goal for the Cork Business League did arrive on 63 minutes when firstly Gavin Buckley made a stunning save to keep out a deflected Sean Nagle strike, and from the resulting Aaron West right-wing corner, defender Wadii Dridi headed home unmarked from close-range.
Another Waterford goal arrived five minutes later when Ben Daly found space for himself out on the right before crossing to the back post where Dara O’Brien continued his impressive run of goalscoring with a close-range headed finish.
An eighth goal for the hosts was in the offering on 73 minutes when John Tamen got past his marker down the left before crossing into the centre with O’Brien once again on hand to complete his hat-trick with another decent finish.
The goalscoring didn’t stop there as Jeff da Silva got himself on the scoresheet seven minutes later with a good finish after some good work from Adham Masood before Alan Dunwoody split the Cork defence to set up Michael Brennan for goal number ten a minute later.
Waterford found themselves scoring another goal five minutes from time as they continued to pile misery on their opponents. John Tamen caused panic down the left before putting in a teasing delivery and the unfortunate John Meehan only managed to put the ball past his own goalkeeper.
Juan de Villa scored his second of the game for the Cork side from the penalty spot on 88 minutes, but Waterford completed the half dozen in the final minute as Tramore’s Ben Daly blasted home inside the area to the sound of the final whistle.
Waterford will now prepare for their next fixture in the group, which will be played on Sunday, December 15, when they take on the Munster Senior League at Crosshaven with a 2pm kick-off with a place in the next phase of the competition up for grabs.
Gavin Buckley (Shane Foley 71), Ben Daly, Cian Browne (John Tamen 63), Darryl Walsh, Dylan Stickel (Matas Grinius 71), Alan Dunwoody, Jeff da Silva, Conor Kilgannon (Jack Ahern 46), Alex Phelan (Adham Masood 46), Dara O’Brien, Michael Brennan.
Padraic McCarthy, Patricio Labra (James Corcoran 46), David O’Keeffe (Jamie Cole 74), Wadii Dridi, Jason Meehan, Tadhg Shanahan, Callan Dempsey, Sean Moynihan (David O’Sullivan 46), Sean Nagle (Peter Travers 74), Juan De Villa, Aaron West.
Gavin Keyes assisted by Noel Purcell and John Ferncombe.
