Amond winner moves Waterford up to fourth

Pádraig Amond was the hero for Waterford once again as his ninth goal of the season gave Keith Long’s side a 2-1 victory over Bohemians at the RSC.

The striker also got an assist, setting up Christie Pattisson to open the scoring in the ninth minute, and the result pushes the club up to fourth in the table.

FULL MATCH DETAILS

As for Bohs, they failed to build on the momentum following Dayle Rooney’s equaliser at the end of the first half.

The Blues now head into the international break dreaming of a possible European push during the second half of the season, while preparing to take on Kerry FC in the Munster Senior Cup final.

Long’s side looked like a side playing on form and with a clear sense of purpose, and that was evident during the first few minutes at the RSC.

The Blues took the lead when a Sam Sargeant goal-kick was broken down to Pattisson by Amond. The winger swung his right boot at the ball and it went beyond the reach of an on rushing Kacper Chorazka.

Waterford kept going, and Dean McMenamy worked with Pattison to set up Ben McCormack for a shot on the edge of the area, and his effort went out for a corner that came to nothing.

Bohs endured without really testing the Waterford defence. That changed when a Dylan Connolly cross to the back post was knocked down to Martin Miller, and the Estonian international’s volley was pushed out for a corner by Sargeant.

The equaliser came from a free-kick, won through a Darragh Power foul on James Clarke. Rooney went for goal from 25 yards out, and a deflection off the wall made sure the ball hit the top corner in the 31st minute.

There was no rush of blood during the time left to play in the first half, and the two teams went into the break level.

Waterford came back out and they struggled to create a meaningful chance while passing the ball around inside the Bohs’ half.

It would take something special to breakthrough, and that moment came when Amond slipped through the penalty area and connected with a low Pattisson cross. The striker back-heeled the ball in and made it 2-1 to Waterford in the 71st minute.

Jordan Flores went the closest to equalising for Bohs, and Sargeant stood his ground to stop the midfielder’s long range effort.

Waterford FC: Sam Sargeant; Darragh Power, Grant Horton, Rowan §McDonald, Ben McCormack (Kacper Radkowski 76), Padraig Amond, Connor Parsons (Ryan Burke 86), Darragh Leahy, Robbie McCourt, Christie Pattisson, Dean McMenamy (Niall O’Keeffe 57).

Bohemians: Kacper Chorazka; Patrick Kirk, Aboubacar, Jordan Flores, Dayle Rooney, Dylan Connolly (Danny Grant 77), James Akintunde, James Clarke (Declan McDaid 86), Adam McDonnell (Nickson Okosun 86), Martin Miller (Filip Piszczek 77), Jevon Mills.

Referee: Alan Patchell