Relief - That was the overriding emotion
It was a game where we had very little to gain and everything to lose being the heavy favourites going into the match.
We knew that it was going to be a tough game for us as Bray were coming into the game full of momentum, and when we saw the condition of the pitch - that played into Bray’s hands even more.
The rain had heavily fallen all week and the Tolka Park pitch had three games in the space of six days on it, and it showed by how much it was cutting up. The ground staff did great to get the game going, but in truth if it wasn’t the play-off final it would never have gone ahead.
We actually started the game well but still conceded another silly early goal to put ourselves under even more pressure than we already were.
The lucky thing for us if you can say such is how early we conceded the goal so there wasn’t too much panic from us compared to going behind early in the second half of the game. We dusted ourselves down and dominated the rest of the first half.
We got the equalising goal from a well-rehearsed corner kick routine midway through the first half. We had worked very hard on the corner all week, albeit with varying success, but it is all about executing it on the night and that’s what we did.
We had spoken about not doing it in the first half because of how bad that penalty area was, but I made the call on the pitch go for it - but only specifically from that side for two reasons: The first reason was the number of corners we had gotten; we were running out of the playbook. The second and most important reason was because that side of the penalty area was better than the right-hand side because of the little slope on the pitch falling down towards the Riverside stand in Tolka.
Thankfully, Conan Noonan tucked the goal away and we were confident going into half time that we could get the job done in the second half.
We did get it done, but it wasn’t without drama. I’d imagine for the neutral at home watching the game it was great entertainment, but it was nerve-wracking in Tolka Park for both sets of supporters.
The penalty area we were defending in the second half really added to the tension of the game. At one stage the ball fell very kindly to a Bray player, and it stopped dead in the mud for him to score, only for a great defensive block from Ryan Burke to keep the game at 1-1.
Sam Glenfield, who was disappointed not to start the game, became the hero when he scored the winning goal with a great driving run and finish from just outside the box and we held out for victory without too much drama for the rest of the game.
When the final whistle went there was obviously a lot of relief and jubilation amongst the Waterford supporters and players. I probably looked very grumpy after the game, but I just didn’t enjoy the aftermath at all.
I was obviously delighted for the coaching staff, players and most of all supporters who have been brilliant this year, but most of all I was so relieved that we had secured the clubs safety and that the unbelievable staff who work incredibly hard for Waterford FC behind the scenes were staring into uncertain futures of what relegation would have brought to the club.
Those people and supporters are the heartbeat of every club and to see the joy on their faces after the game was enough for me.
We now head into the off-season, and I am looking forward to some downtime and recharging the batteries to go again next season.
It was a long season with some great moments and some very frustrating ones. Finishing top scorer in the league for a second year in succession and being named in the PFAI Team of the year for the third time were the highlights and I am very proud of both of those achievements.
My body feels good after the season, and I still feel that I can get better, so I am already looking forward to next season and seeing what it brings.
