Waterford share spoils but 10-man St Pat's stay top

Mattie Smith of St Patrick's Athletic has a shot on goal despite the attention of Kyle Ferguson of Waterford at the RSC. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

WATERFORD FC 1 ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC 1

Ten-man St Patrick’s Athletic failed in their bid to make it four wins on the bounce in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division after they were held to a share of the spoils against Waterford FC at the RSC, but the Inchicore club remain top of the table on goal difference.

A goalmouth scramble inside the Waterford penalty area led to the visitors striking for the opening goal on eight minutes when Billy King picked up the ball out on the left before crossing for Darragh Burns, who fed Matty Smith, and he beat Brian Murphy at the second attempt from close-range.

Stephen O’Donnell’s side were harshly reduced to 10 men on 18 minutes when referee John McLoughlin judged that Alfie Lewis, who was dispossessed by Shane Griffin, was the last man when he pulled back the midfielder, but replays showed that there were two covering defenders.

Adam O’Reilly had Waterford’s first chance of note two minutes later only for keeper Vitezslav Jaros to get down low to his left to make a smart save before Brian Murphy denied former Blue Smith his second goal on 25 minutes when saving at his left-hand post.

A sweeping Blues move on 35 minutes yielded an equalising goal when Eric Molloy played the ball out to Prince Mutswunguma out on the right, who skipped past Lee Desmond before setting up Shane Griffin, and he beat keeper Jaros with a delicious first-time right-footed finish from 10 yards.

Eric Molloy had a great chance to grab his third goal on the bounce three minutes before the halftime whistle when he peeled to the back post to get on the end of a Jamie Mascoll left-wing cross, but he couldn’t direct his header on target.

After Billy King missed a good chance to beat Murphy on 55 minutes when he latched onto a loose Niall O’Keeffe pass, it was sub Chris Forrester that could have scored with his first touch on 71 minutes from a John Mountney cross only to see his header strike the post.

It was the crossbar that denied Marc Bircham’s side the lead goal three minutes later when John Martin’s looping header after a Jamie Mascoll free-kick came back off the woodwork before O’Reilly saw a decent shot from the left-side saved by Jaros on 80 minutes. 

Blues defender Jamie Mascoll was lucky to get away with just a yellow card five minutes from time when he tripped Darragh Burns as he closed down on goal, the defender, unlike Lewis, getting away with just a caution as the game ended in a stalemate.

Waterford FC: Murphy, Power, Ferguson, Stafford (Evans ’62), Mascoll, Molloy, Griffin, O’Reilly, O’Keeffe, Mutswunguma, J. Martin.

St Patrick’s Athletic: Jaros, Desmond, Bone, Mountney, Burns, Benson, Lewis, McClelland, McCormack (Lennon ’24), King (Forrester ’71), Smith.

Referee: John McLoughlin (Roscommon).