St Patrick’s Athletic 3 Waterford 0
As they did back in April, St Patrick’s Athletic knocked Waterford out of the top three with a vibrant second half performance at Richmond Park.
A goal from striker Achille Campion and two from defender Michael Leahy did the damage to dent the visitors’ European prospects.
Though Brendan Clarke was the busier goalkeeper before the interval, it was St Pat’s who wasted the best chance of the first half on 30 minutes.
Campion’s cleverly turned Kenny Browne near the end line. The pull back was perfect for Jake Keegan who got right under his shot to slice it wastefully off target.
Frantic defending at the other end was needed in first half stoppage time. Clarke spilled Puri’s drive with Leahy alert to clear off the toe of the lurking Duffus.
St Pat’s began the second half with purpose, skipper Ian Bermingham arrowing a drive from distance narrowly wide six minutes in.
Keegan brought a parry save from Matt Connor before St Pat’s were deservedly ahead on 54 minutes.
Darragh Markey was instrumental in the goal, beginning the move on the edge of his own box.
Substitute Ryan Brennan and Keegan were involved before Markey’s shot was merely parried by Connor to give Campion a tap-in for his first goal for the club.
Rattled by the home side’s verve, Waterford conceded a second goal on 68 minutes, Bermingham’s corner finding Leahy whose glancing header flew into the far corner of the net.
And Leahy was there again on 83 minutes to head home his second goal of the game from a Bermingham free kick.
St Patrick's Athletic: Clarke; Desmond. Leahy, Toner; Madden, Lennon; Clifford (R. Brennan, 25), Markey, Birmingham; Keegan (Doona, 85), Campion (Turner, 90).
Waterford: Connor; Feely (Keegan, 67), Browne, Webster, Barnett (Baba, 90); Hery, Puri (Wilson, 72); Hutchinson, Holohan, Akinade; Duffus.
Referee: Ben Connolly (Dublin).
Derry City 0 Bohemians 2
Kenny Shiels ended his remarkable record against Bohemians with Derry, losing out in this FAI Cup quarter-final rehearsal at the Brandywell.
And while the Derry boss had to watch this game from the stands, he can have no complaints with the result, Bohemians defeating the Candystripes for the first time in 12 meetings.
For Bohs boss, Keith Long, it will have been a relief to remove the Indian sign, but he will be content with this performance, his side continuing their impressive good vein of form in the league.
Early goals in each half did the damage as Bohs clearly controlled the vital areas with the pace of winger, Daniel Kelly, a constant threat on the break.
In fact, Derry were caught cold when conceding within the first minute and it was Darren Kelly’s lightning pace on the right flank which fashioned that strike.
The winger cruised past Derry left-back, Kevin McHattie, before delivering a low centre, the ball swept home by the alert Dinny Corcoran and the home lot were in trouble.
Content to retain the ball and control the game, Bohs enjoyed the lion’s share of possession in the opening period with clear-cut scoring opportunities at a premium.
Derry may have finished the half on the front foot, but they failed to seriously trouble Shane Supple, the visitors entering the break with confidence.
Following the change of ends, Derry continued to rise to the challenge with both Aaron Splaine and Rory Hale flashing powerful shots narrowly wide of the target.
But it was Bohs, again using the pace of Kelly, who put this game to bed when they hit on the break in the 54th minute.
Having worked his way into the Derry penalty are, Kelly was shadowed by Dan Seaborn but the Bohs winger coolly rounded the defender before tucking the ball low into the corner with Doherty appearing to have been caught flat-footed.
Having doubled their lead, Bohs were happy to sit back and defend in numbers while Derry owned the ball but failed to penetrate.
Ronan McHale missed the proverbial sitter in the 72nd minute before both McHattie and substitute Shane McNamee crashed shots off the Bohs upright as the home side finished strongly.
Derry City: Doherty; McDongh, Cole, Seaborne, McHattie; Splaine (McNamee, 76), Rory Hale; Ronan Hale, McEneff, Fisk (Shiels, h/t); Roy (Delap h/t).
Bohemians: Supple; Pender, Casey, Morris, Leahy; Kelly, Luney (Stokes, 84), Buckley, Devaney; Corcoran (Masterson, 90), Ward (Byrne, 75).
Referee: D. McGraith (Mayo).
Bray Wanderers 0 Shamrock Rovers 3
Shamrock Rovers’ chase for Europe moved a step closer as they climbed to third place in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.
In front of the biggest Carlisle Grounds crowd of the season (1,798), Stephen Bradley’s team sent basement club Bray closer to the relegation trap door.
In the two matches between the clubs at Tallaght Stadium this year, Rovers had put 11 goals past Wanderers without reply. Yet, they had last lost their last three visits to the seaside since 2017.
But that all changed eight minutes before the interval. Sheer persistence by Dan Carr created the opening for Ronan Finn get the vital touch to divert in inside the six-yard area.
The Hoops deservedly doubled that lead in the 65th minute. Sean Kavanagh was bundled over in the box by Darragh Gibbons. And Dylan Watts made no mistake from the penalty.
Watts then turned provider as Rovers went three up in the 77th minute through Brandon Miele who angled his low drive beyond Evan Moran from 12-yards.
Bray Wanderers: Moran: Gibbons, Kenna, Heaney, Lynch; Harding, Gorman, O'Conor, Noone; Jake Kelly (Hollywood 87); Pender (Ellis 74).
Shamrock Rovers: Mannus; Boyle, Lopes, Grace, Kavanagh; Bolger, Finn (Shaw 79); Coustrain (Brandon Kavanagh 73), Watts, Miele; Carr (Greene 57).
Referee: Robert Hennessy (Clare).
