If leagues are marathons and teams have the pace themselves over nine months, Galway United got over their first hill as Vincent Borden scored to give them a 1-0 victory over First Division title rivals Waterford at the RSC.
It was a game of shadow boxing as both teams played tight football, careful not to make any kind of mistake and fitting in with this, a routine set piece was nodded in at the back post for the game's only goal.
To Galway, this wasn’t just about making an early season statement, they were also out to avenge last year’s promotion semi-final defeat against Waterford in Limerick. John Caulfield’s team dominated the early passages of play and forced a number of chances which were easily dealt with by the Blues backline.
Their first real opportunity out of this came from a Regan Donelon cross that Rob Slevin smacked off the crossbar. Ed McCarthy was the engine of these drives, and he was denied a goal when Niall O’Keeffe lunged in to block a venomous shot inside the box.
The best Waterford could do was a long range attempt from Chris Conn-Clarke that needed to be palmed over and out for a corner by Brendan Clarke. The Blues created nothing with the set-piece and not even two minutes later, Borden headed in at the back post to make it 1-0.
Waterford’s attempts to pick themselves up were met with a neat press from Galway. Almost every kick-out from Paul Martin triggered a maroon coloured advance, which looked to visibly frustrate the home side.
Stephen Walsh tried to capitalise on his side's momentum after Galway broke from a long Waterford throw-in but his side footed attempt was easily palmed away by Martin.
The first half ended with half chances from Ryan Burke and Giles Philips, and neither of these caused much of a fuss in the Galway box.
The restart saw a O’Keeffe blocking a header from Manning in the box and this moment acted as a catalyst for the whole Waterford team. The Blues were finally creating chances, with one being a Shane Griffin free that saw a header from Eddie Nolan draw a brilliant reflex save from Clarke.
The introduction of Ronan Coughlan further increased the urgency in Waterford’s play. But, the midfielder’s directness was stopped each time by an organised and expertly positioned Galway back-line.
The visitors ended up grinding out a comfortable finish that earned them their third consecutive win and further stated their title, and promotion, aspirations. As for Waterford,
it’s back to the drawing board as they look to dissect their first league defeat after last week’s draw with Longford Town at the RSC.
Elsewhere in the First Division both Kerry FC and Finn Harps claimed their first points of the season.
Harps played out a 1-1 draw with promotion hopefuls Bray Wanderers. Ryan Flood opened the scoring for Harps on 15 minutes and impressed throughout, while Harry Groome equalised on 30 minutes with his first goal for the Seagulls.
The scoreline was also 1-1 in Kerry's game with Treaty United. Sean Kennedy wrote his own little slice of history as he became the first man to score at home for Kerry FC on 10 minutes.
Treaty's equaliser game on 32 minutes courtesy of Enda Curran who was on hand to bundle the bar home after a Conor Barry cross had come back off the woodwork.
Kerry were reduced to 10 men on the hour mark when Andy Quaid was shown a second red card but they were able to hold out for their first point of the campaign.
In the night's other game a first-half goal from Aaron Dobbs and a brace from Aaron Robinson gave Wexford a convincing 3-0 victory over Athlone Town, who drop points for the first time this season.
Waterford FC: Paul Martin; Darragh Power (Tunmise Sobowale 69), Ryan Burke, Niall O'Keeffe (Thomas Oluwa 81), Eddie Nolan, Barry Baggley, Chris Conn-Clarke (Connor Parsons 69), Roland- Idowu (Ronan Coughlan 58), Giles Philips, Dean McMenemy (Shane Griffin 58), Wassim Aouachria.
Galway United: Brendan Clarke; Regan Donelon, Rob Slevin, Killian Brouder, Stephen Walsh (Rob Manley 90), David Hurley (Conor O’Keeffe), Ronan Manning (Mikey Rowe 72), Vincent Borden (Maurice Nugent 67), Colm Horgan, Conor McCormack, Ed McCarthy.
Referee: Alan Patchell
