“I’m so proud of our effort this season”
Waterford FC Head coach Keith Long applauds the fans after Friday's game against Shamrock Rovers.
There was a cracking atmosphere at Tallaght Stadium on Friday evening for the season finale in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division as Waterford FC more than played their part despite defeat to second-placed Shamrock Rovers.
With five minutes remaining on the clock at both Tallaght and the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, the league title after 36 games for each club was still in the balance as Rovers held a 2-1 slender lead over the Blues and Shels were still scoreless.
But all that was change up North as Harry Wood scored for the Tolka Park club as seven former Waterford players – Paddy Barrett, JJ Lunney, Matty Smith, Tyreke Wilson, Sam Bone, Ali Coote, and John Martin would go on to lift the title under Damien Duff.
Speaking after the game, Long said: “It was a great game to play in for our boys, who are young players, I thought we showed lots of personality, and showed lots of quality, We conceded early. We started well in the game, but on four minutes, they score. We get done on the counter attack.
“It was a disappointing goal to concede so early in the game, but we've controlled long periods. Again, we've showed, like I said, lots of personality, lots of courage to get on the ball and play.
“The goal that we concede in the second-half, we’ve got to defend the back post better, but again, we came back. Ben McCormick puts in a great ball for Podge. His movement to get across the front post is really good and it’s a great finish.
“So for long periods in the game, we dominated the possession. We were probably the better team in possession, and looked the more likely. Connor Parsons was a real threat, particularly in the first-half. So lots of good performances.
“Ultimately, we've lost the game, but a good experience nonetheless, for some of the young boys that played tonight.”
Long wasn’t happy with the amount of “nonsense” spoken about his team before the game. “There was a lot of nonsense said about us coming to Tallaght and not giving a good account of ourselves. We're professional people. We’ve got a professional dressing room, and the players have pride in their performance.
“It was expected that Rovers would turn us over and listen, they’ve done their job tonight. They won the game. They’ve won the league for four years on the spin, but Shelborne obviously have pipped them at the post tonight.
“I think it's good overall for the league that Shelburne have won if I'm honest, but many teams had opportunities this year. If you look at Derry, if you look at Shel, if you look at Rovers, nobody really wanted to win the league.
“It would seem every time that there was an opportunity or a chink of light in terms of results, other teams would drop points or teams wouldn't capitalise on the moments in the season where you'd expect teams to put a consistent run together.
“But on us, we were very, very good tonight. I’m really proud of the players in terms of the performance, it's been a long season. I want to thank the supporters that travelled here tonight in their numbers. They were brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
“The Blues supporters have been brilliant all year particularly the ones that travel away from home, because it's not easy. There’s a lot of costs involved to come up the motorway to Dublin and to further afield to watch games, but they've been brilliant to us all year.”
Asked about next season and whether he’ll be staying on, Long added: “We’ve a lot of work to do now in the off season. Some players will move on and some players will stay. We've got a bit of reconstruction to do in terms of the squad and lots of conversations to be had.
“If we get that right in the off season, we can look ahead to another positive campaign. I'm contracted to Waterford for another year, so I think I've got slightly shy of 18 months left on my contract so our plans are to move forward “Our plans are to assemble a squad capable of Premier Division football. I've loved every moment at the club. I think the club have been very good for me, and, and it's been a pleasure to be part of Waterford Football Club.
“The facilities are second to none. The people in the town care about the team, and they support the team, and the players have given us all year, and we can ask no more than that.
“The ownership have supported us. So let's move forward, and hopefully we can attract the right type of player into the club for next season, and have a positive Premier Division campaign.”
