This fixture at the RSC yesterday was reminiscent of the glory years of Waterford soccer: the champions in town as visitors and Waterford going behind early on before emerging victorious cheered on by an enthusiastic packed house.

The joint men-of-the-match were Brendan Markey, who became the first Waterford player to score a hat-trick since November 1993, and Alan Kirby whose deft touches and incisive runs troubled St Patrick's all afternoon.

Barry Wood, United's Scottish striker, was in the starting line-up for the first time since the opening game of the season and he stamped his authority on the game with a courageous and tireless display.

The champions made five changes to their starting line-up, the most surprising being the relegation of strikers Trevor Molloy and Liam Kelly to the substitutes' bench, although both were introduced in the second half. Marcus Hallows opened the scoring for St Patrick's after five minutes when he latched on to a cross from Martin Russell. Hallows appeared to be well marked but despite bluffing his first effort he was allowed to turn and find the net at his second attempt. United refused to panic and pressed forward at every opportunity. Their efforts were rewarded on 12 minutes when Markey equalised from a John Frost cross.

Waterford took the lead on 32 minutes following a delightful run by Wood. He dispossessed Russell and threaded his way through almost to the end line before crossing. The ball took a slight deflection but Markey managed to step backwards and still get in a powerful shot.

The second half was only four minutes old when Markey climbed above the defence from a corner at the far post and gave goalkeeper Trevor Wood no chance with a perfectly placed header to secure his hat-trick.

Waterford United: Devine, Smith, Frost, Reynolds, Riordan, McGrath, Kirby, Whittle, Wood, Markey, Griffin. Sub: O'Brien for Wood (93 mins).

St Patrick's Athletic: Wood, Lynch, Byrne, Gormley, Harte, Hallows, McNevin, Prenderville, Russell, Broughan, Hawkins. Subs: Molloy for Gormley (55 mins), Kelly for McNevin (74) and Burke for Broughan (89).

Referee: G Perry (Dublin).