Shels end Blues' unbeaten run
Waterford Fc's Maleace Asamoah reacts after a missed opportunity against Shelbourne. Photo: Inpho.
Shelbourne substitute Sean Boyd breached a brilliant Sam Sargeant for a second-time this season as the league leaders ended the three game winning run of Waterford FC in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division at Tolka Park on Friday evening last.
Whilst there could be no denying that the home side were the better team over the course of the 90 minutes, with the Blues netminder producing a man of the match performance with a string of top class saves, Gbemi Arubi nearly snatched an unlikely point two minutes from time.
But it would have been snatch and grab from Keith Long’s side as Shelbourne were a class above on the end with Sargeant’s brilliance denying two certain goals in the first-half and another three in the second-half with his stunning stop to deny match winner Boyd on 67 minutes the highlight.
The hosts has a chance on four minutes. Will Jarvis caught Rowan McDonald in possession before flicking the ball into the path of Matty Smith, who in turn set up an another former Blue John Martin, but Sam Sargeant tipped his stunning effort from 18 yards over.
It was another top Sargeant save that kept the hosts at bay three minutes later. Smith was played in behind the Blues defence by a perfectly weighted Sean Gannon pass that put him clear on goal, but his left-footed effort was brilliantly kept out by the netminder.
Shelbourne had another big chance to go in front on 65 minutes when Jarvis skipped past three challenges out on the left-side before firing in a right-footed shot that was turned around the posts and from the resulting Evan Caffrey corner that found the head of Paddy Barrett, Horton cleared off the line.
It was the brilliance of Sargeant that denied Damien Duff’s side the lead goal two minutes later when Caffrey sent in another pin-point delivery from a left-wing corner that found the head of Sean Boyd, and his header looked destined for the net only for the netminder to superbly keep it out.
The Blues defence was finally breached on 72 minutes as the hosts struck for a deserved lead. Evan Caffrey fed Jarvis with a neat ball, and his deft touch picked out substitute Boyd, who turned onto his right-foot to beat a helpless Sam Sargeant with a fine finish low to the bottom right-hand corner.
Waterford nearly stole a share of the spoils two minutes from the end when Grant Horton sent over a left-wing cross from an advanced position that found the head of Gbemi Arubi, who headed the ball into the ground only for Conor Kearns to turn the ball out for a corner. Padraig Amond had the final shot five minutes into added time after an Arubi knockdown, but the netminder saved as Shels won out.
