Waterford V Wexford Youths (League Cup 1st Round) 02/04 19.45 kick off!

[Tazskool]

Ok.. Our first real hard test of the season is quickly upon us lads...

League Cup and we get drawn away to a Premier Division club. Only can be a good experience for the lads and hopefully come away with our heads high..

I am predicting a draw 1-1 on this.. I see the lads stepping up to the plate and really giving it everything they have to stamp their mark on things.

Waterford will hopefully under estimate Wexford alot, being the new lads, and hopefully this will give us the edge.

A few injury worries for the Youths but hte lads just have to pull together and go out to cause a shock!

Prediction... 1-1

[wexman]

no waterford should win this we are getting results but playing really bad we were defending for our lives yesterday rearly caused trouble 2 a bad limerick side waterford should win by two clear goals

[Thunder-WYFC]

Hate to say it but 3-0 to Utd,+ they'll be much fresher than us also.Stuy Lawlor will be a big loss!

[brokenstar]

yeah, i'd say 3 - 1 to Waterford. So soon after the Limerick game, it'll take its toll. The lads will be up for it though, there's no doubting their spirit. Stuuy will be a big loss alright, been a rock so far this season

[passinginterest]

I reckon Waterford should win by two or three goals.
Will be interesting experiment for Wexford, with the games so close together a lot of lads should get a chance to prove themselves.
Waterford will rest players and experiment too no doubt so a shock could be on the cards.
According to Wexford Youths website the game is on Tuesday night not tonight just in case anyone is planning on attending.

[Piltownpossy]

Yea - both sites with different dates. Had to call Waterford United this morning to make sure.

1-0 upset to the Boys of Wexford :-)

[Tazskool]

Sorry my balls up... topic changed

[wexfordseagull]

speaking to a few of the lads yesterday and most of the boys not playing regular should get a run out tonight

[Piltownpossy]

Second string was put on last night. Only the goalkeeper and Johnny Flynn O'Connor (sub) had played on Sunday.

Fell behind after 5 minutes due to some naieve defending but held out against a lot of pressure until we had a Diarmuid Fitzpatrick sent off, harshly imo, on 30 minutes for a second yellow. Just before half time Justin Power was unlucky to slice into his own net to put United 2 up.

In fairness, whilst I appreciate this was the second string, it was a pretty poor display for the whole of the first half. Littered with some basic defending errors and simple stuff like 2 of our players repeatedly going for the same ball.

A slight improvement in the second half, we switched to three at the back and 5 in midfield, the 10 men held out very well, and could have scored on the break on two or three occassions. Our passing however was poor in patches, and we could just as easily have found ourselves 2 or 3 more down with Waterford exposing us on the break.

We held out til 10 minutes before the end when Willie Bruton put Blues 3 up with the best goal of the night, some trickery in the corner, a great cross, nodded back across the goal for Bruton to score from 6 yards.

Wexford fans seemed to be scattered throughout the stand with the largest group (30 maybe?) near the middle. No singing which was a shame but I did try a few roards of 'mon Wexford which weren't picked up on.

All in all a good run out for the reserves, applauded off at the end by the Wexford contingent and we can now concentrate on the title ;-)

[brokenstar]

Cheers for the report Piltown... couldn't make it meself last night. Wasn't too concerned about this result as I see establishing ourselves in the league to be the priority of the season. Good to see alot of the reserve lads to get a run out. This should give them the incentive to push for first team places harder now.

[Piltownpossy]

Just as an aside - they wore the away strip which looked like a maroon jersey. It looked great and I was told the jerseys should be on sale from next week.

Would like one of the drill tops meself

[Tazskool]

From rte sport
----------------------------

Waterford United proved too strong for neighbours Wexford Youths in what was the league newcomers' first competitive match at the RSC.

United opened the scoring after five minutes when John Hayes converted from close range following a cross from Robert Brosnan that was flicked on by Vinnie Sullivan.

Wexford were reduced to ten men after 32 minutes when Diarmuid Fitzpatrick was dismissed by referee Padraig Sutton after he was shown a second yellow card.

The visitors were under constant pressure throughout the first half but their defence held out bravely until three minutes before the interval when the unfortunate Justin Power sliced the ball into his own net as he attempted to cut out an Alan Mulcahy cross from the right.

United completely dominated the second period but wasted a hatful of opportunities to increase their lead until Willie Bruton bundled Shane Harte's header from a Mulcahy cross over the line ten minutes from the end.

Waterford United: Delaney, Scully, Flynn, Hayes (Casey, 85 minutes), Brosnan, Reynolds (Harte, halftime), Mulcahy, McCarthy, Sullivan (McDonald, 69 minutes), Bruton, Warren. Substitutes not used: O'Shea, Holden.

Wexford Youths: Dunphy, Bolger, Margolin, Hawkins, Bradley (Miller, 62 minutes), Power (White, 74 minutes), G. Murphy, Fitzpatrick, Colfer (Flynn O'Connor, 62 minutes), J. Murphy, Dunning. Substitutes not used: Wadding, Sinnott.

Referee: Padraig Sutton, Clare.
---------------

From irishfootballonline.com

Wexford Youths were always going to struggle as they took to the field for the second time in two days. And so it proved as Premier Division Waterford United triumphed 3-0 in Monday night's League Cup 1st round game at the RSC.

Waterford were ahead after just five minutes when John Hayes fired home from Vinny Sullivan's knock down.

Wexford's hopes were all but ended when Diarmuid Fitzpatrick was sent off on 32 minutes after picking up his second booking of the night.

It wasn't Wexford's night and after weathering a Waterford storm for most of the first half, they fell 2-0 behind shortly before the break. Justin Power sliced the ball into his own net while attempting to clear Alan Mulcahy's cross.

It really could have been much more than 3-0 but Willie Bruton only struck for the third in the closing ten minutes.

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From my own views the lads did well... even if it was a 2nd string.. I dislike the fact that I cant get to watch the matches live and English TV doesnt show them ....

[G-Man]

Poor performance alright, but league is the main priority. Bit stupid that the game gets played a day after the league game. Thought Seve Bradley was probably our best player on the night, plenty of go in him anyway. Bit of a scattered crowd alright, but probably a lot to do with most were in the college and just fancied the short trip to the ground to watch the game.

[brokenstar]

Jerseys next week? Best try and keep some money after the long weekend! Nice one. The drill tops are well smart. They'll surely be on sale soon enough too. Heard all the squad numbers were all finalised too

Hey, Taz, don't feel so bad mate. Irish tv is just as bad. Tends only to concentrate on our Premier league and the bigger teams in Div 1, like Dundalk and Shels. Bit unfair if you ask me, but that's tv for you.

[ForzaWexford]

Couldn't go to the game because of college, sounds like we had a hard time of it. An own goal and a sending off after half an hour surely didn't help! Good to see Ducker get a game. Heard Dunphy played well enough again, which is good considering Russell will probably be out for another while yet.

[stann]

Was a pity ye played Sunday, would have liked to see your full team out to get a look. That side last night was just poor, we should know, but ye obviously have a decent first XI going by your start.

The own goal was very unlucky, think that can be put down to the sh!te surface, looked to take a bobble before it hit Power's boot.

If you think Fitzpatrick's sending off was harsh, you're in for a delightful season-long surprise! Get used to it quick, it's very much par for the course, especially for the supposedly smaller team. In this case though, though it was a harsh red, it wasn't really two harsh yellows if you know what I mean. He went in to clatter Rennie after Rennie had clattered a Wexford player (same fella?) for a card earlier on, so he was always going to get booked for that.

Dunphy did OK between the sticks, made one astounding save from Bruts (who should have had a hat-trick), but his kicking is just wrong. Is he your first choice No. 1?
Duckers Hawkins is wasted at centre-half, maybe it was the scratch nature of the side that put him there?

Oh, and some of your fans, of which there was loads there, fair play for that, need to get to grips with the new offside laws or they'll have a very frustrating season.

[passinginterest]

Dunphy has been second choice so far, but Jason Russell broke a toe so he'll be out for a while.

I'd say Hawkins played there because of his experience, and to gain match fitness, he's missed all the games so far through injury. I think in the long run he'll be right wing back, as I think that's been a very weak position for us so far.

In many ways I'm sure it will have been a very useful exercise to give the squad players a taste of the action, I'm sure they were itching to get some reward for the hard training sessions they've been putting in.

[stann]

It certainly seemed to be the intention alright. Certainly Mick Wallace could have looked for a re-arrangement of the date ahead of time if he was serious about winning the tie.
God, 5th ever game and he's already picking and choosing his competitions, now that's a man with a plan!

[Tis-smeee]

Thanx for yer money

[Footsoldier]

No bother Tis. We have loads to give away!

By all accounts, we struggled last night and at times on Sunday . However, we have a few boys, like Anthony Russell, to come back from injury. I have to say that we have at least 4 more points than I thought we'd have at this stage.

Anybody who has seen Wallace's teams over the years will know that he likes big men (in a footballing sense, obviously!) and his teams always play it long into the corner and then get the cross in. I don't think that'll change.