Derry City are moving up the gears as they defeated 10-man Waterford at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, with Patrick Hoban's hat-trick ensuring Ruaidhri Higgins' side cruised to their third victory of the season.
City missed a golden chance to take the lead on 30 minutes as Hoban's clever ball over the top released Daniel Kelly, but after racing clear of the visitors' defence, the winger failed to test goalkeeper Sam Sargeant and fired wide from just inside the box.
The home side took the lead thanks to some quick thinking by Paul McMullan as his free-kick found Michael Duffy. His left-wing centre found Hoban and his close-range shot was turned home by Hoban via a slight deflection by Darragh Leahy.
Derry doubled their advantage on 49 minutes as Mark Connolly's cushioned header found Hoban, who chested the ball down before his overhead kick from 12 yards found the bottom left corner.
📽️ | Not a bad way to wrap up the half 🚲#LOITV | #DERWAT pic.twitter.com/9oBXpaptcL
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City all but ended the contest early in the second half as Hoban completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after McMullan was upended inside the box by Leahy, and the Waterford defender was also shown a straight red card for the offence to complete a miserable night for him.
With their tails up, the Brandywell men went close to netting a fourth, but Kelly's effort at the back post was straight at Sargeant.
In the closing 30 minutes, the home side kept the ball well and made the 10 men chase shadows at times and while they never really created anything clear cut, they knew they had already done all the hard work in the opening hour of the contest.
In stoppage time, Jordan McEneff saw his 25-yard drive gathered at the second attempt by Sargeant.
Derry City: Brian Maher, Ronan Boyce, Mark Connolly (Shane McEleney 59), Cameron McJannet, Ben Doherty; Adam O'Reilly (Sam Todd 69), Jordan McEneff, Paul McMullan; Daniel Kelly, Pat Hoban, Michael Duffy (Daniel Mullen 54).
Waterford: Sam Sargeant, Darragh Power (Joseph Forde 28), Ryan Burke, Grant Horton, Barry Baggley, Padraig Amond, Connor Parsons (Ben McCormack 82), Maleace Asamoah (Rowan McDonald 57), Darragh Leahy, Kacper Radkowski (Robbie McCourt 57), Harvey Macadam (Romeo Akachukwu 82).
Referee: Paul Norton (Dublin).
