Waterford's winless run in the SSE Airtricity League First Division is over following their 5-0 victory over Cobh Ramblers at the RSC on Friday night.
After successive defeats to Wexford and Galway United, Ronan Coughlan gave the Blues the lead with just seven minutes on the clock and they never once relinquished their grip over their east coast rivals.
This was a just reward as their first attack of the game, which started with goalkeeper Paul Martin, led to a low ball into the box from Dean McMenamy and it narrowly missed Coughlan at the back post.
When the striker did get a touch in the area, it was to head in a cross that Killian Cantwell sent in from the right hand side.
McMenamy almost made it 2-0 but his attempt got stopped at the near post by Lee Steacy after the midfielder twisted free in the box.
Things got worse for Cobh after this as Shane Keegan was forced into an early substitution with Lee Desmond coming on for Dale Holland in the 17th minute.
A training ground routine almost gave Waterford their third as a short corner was sent to Roland Idowu by Barry Baggley. The ball was then crossed in to Giles Philips and his header got stopped by a stretched Steacy.
Cobh then cut through Waterford with some crisp passing, and James O’Leary played Wilson Waweru through on the right hand side. He was denied by the legs of Martin and Cantwell put the loose ball out for a corner, which was easily caught by the Waterford goalkeeper.
Michael McCarthy also tried something, and this attempt from outside the area was blocked by a well organised Blues backline.
Waterford quickly stopped Cobh from creating anything else, and they pushed up in numbers after this.
Idowu picked out Griffin during this advance, and he set himself up to score by flicking the ball over, with the second goal arriving in the 37th minute.
Waterford kicked off the second half by forcing Cobh deep into their own half and the ball was played to Barry Baggley Crowe by Coughlan. He hit it first time and made it 3-0 with a thunderous shot from just outside the area.
Coughlan created another one by picking off a stray pass from the Cobh defence and squaring it to Idowu, and he tapped this in.
The midfielder was denied after twisting his way through the box by a defiant Steacy, who stood his ground at the far post.
Thomas Oluwa completed the night for Waterford by splitting the Cobh defence with a pass to Wassim Aouachria and he slotted in, in the 89th minute.
Waterford FC: Paul Martin; Ryan Burke, Niall O’Keeffe (Harvey Warren 90), Shane Griffin (Dean Larkin 46), Barry Baggley Crowe, Connor Parsons (Thomas Oluwa 85), Ronan Coughlan (Wassim Aouachria 70), Roland Idowu, Giles Philips (Tunmise Sobowale 84), Killian Cantwell, Dean McMenamy.
Cobh Ramblers: Lee Stacy; Michael McCarthy, Brendan Frahill, Charlie Lyons, Wilson Waweru (David Bosnjak 87), Conor Drinan (Callum Stringer 88), Darragh O’Sullivan Connell, Dale Holland (Lee Desmond 17), Tiernan O’Brien (Jake Hegarty 66), James O’Leary (Claudio Osorio 66), Jason Abbott.
Referee: Marc Lynch
Since joining the League of Ireland for the start of 2023, Kerry had picked up two points from their opening 13 fixtures.
However, Billy Dennehy's newcomers won for the first time at senior level at the 14th attempt with a topsy-turvy 3-2 win at Athlone Town.
Ryan Kelliher gave Kerry a 16th minute lead which was doubled by Nathan Gleeson shortly after to put them on course for a famous win.
But Frantz Pierrot pulled a goal back for Athlone just before the break and the home side were level through Valeriy Dolya in the 68th minute.
However, Kerry bounced back three minutes later as Kelliher scored what proved to be the winner.
That maiden victory lifts Kerry up to five points although they remain nine points adrift of second-from-bottom Finn Harps, who lost 2-0 at Bray Wanderers. Dane Massey and Harry Groome scored goals in each half to see off the Donegal side as Ian Ryan's Seasiders rose to fourth in the table.
At the top of the promotion race, runaway leaders Galway United stayed 10 points clear of Waterford as a Stephen Walsh brace earned John Caulfield's side a 2-0 win over Wexford at Eamonn Deacy Park.
