Boyd fires Shels injury time winner to leave Waterford on the deck
Shelbourne's Sean Boyd celebrates after scoring his side's winning goal against Waterford. Pic: ©INPHO/Tom Maher
Waterford may still be rock bottom of the Premier Division but there were flickers of life in their desperate fight for survival, until Shelbourne turned the lights out with the last kick of the game.
Even with half their season still to play, the Blues were on track for a precious point as they try to limp towards the teams above them.
Unbeaten in two games coming here, new manager Graham Coughlan is getting a tune out of his struggling side. It is a no frills approach, but such is life when you’re circling the drain at the wrong end of proceedings.
Survival instincts are kicking in and Padraig Amond’s equaliser, just two minutes after Will Jarvis handed Shelbourne the lead, looked as if it could fuel their belief that all is not lost.
But Shelbourne had other ideas and the team with the worst home record in the Premier Division finally got their act together at Tolka Park with Sean Boyd slamming home an injury-time winner to leave the Waterford players on the floor.
Ireland’s man-of-the-moment Jack Moylan nodded his approval from the stands as his former club Shelbourne finally addressed their wretched home record.
Shelbourne were determined to build on last week’s win away to St Pat’s and finally rid themselves of that unwanted winless tag at Tolka Park, and they were good value for their lead goal in the 37th minute.
They controlled the game up to that point, with Ali Coote and Harry Wood a constant source of menace for a Waterford back five that had comfortably shifted more goals than any other side coming here.
Rodrigo Freitas saw an early shot deflect out for a corner but the Portuguese striker should have opened his Shels account soon after. But having caught Waterford cold by peeling off to the back post, he fluffed his lines at close range when unmarked, meeting Coote’s free-kick.
Still, the intent was clear and Shelbourne got their reward eight minutes before the break when Jarvis - who was forced off with an injury early in the second-half - prodded the ball home after a good move with JJ Lunney and then Wood centrally involved. Shels fans must have felt their side was sitting pretty.
But although Waterford are rooted to the foot of the table, they will always carry a threat with ace poacher Amond in their ranks and the veteran striker equalised within two minutes, stabbing home Benny Couto’s low cross after a swift counter attack.
His finish from a yard out snuffed out the good time vibes in the stands, with Shelbourne instead retreating to the dressing room fuming at that lapse in concentration having gifted Waterford a way back having hardly threatened up to then.
Very little has gone Waterford’s way this season, but new manager Coughlan got a tune out of his side over the last week, having picked up a point in Derry before beating Drogheda on Monday, courtesy of a controversial penalty at the death.
Coughlan’s decision to drop playmaker Conan Noonan from the team was significant as Waterford were notably direct, with the versatile midfielder’s vision and ability to thread a pass deemed surplus to requirements until the dying stages. Instead, it was no-nonsense stuff.
Waterford stayed in the hunt as a result and Shelbourne ‘keeper Wessel Speel made a strong save at full stretch to deny Tommy Lonergan a lead goal approaching the hour.
But the arrival of last week’s match winner Daniel Kelly and Mipo Odubeko gave Shelbourne a lift and they combined in a sweeping move that culminated in Evan Caffrey blasting a shot off the crossbar.
The pressure was mounting in the final throes with Shels peppering the Waterford box, paving the way for Boyd to apply the killer finish at the death from close range. For Waterford, that was their season to date in a nutshell.
Speel; Mbeng (Lundgren 61), Barrett, Bone, Ledwidge; Caffrey (Boyd 79), Lunney; Coote (Chapman 79), Wood, Jarvis (Kelly 55); Freitas (Odubeko 61).
McMullan; Houston, Cann, Mahon, Long, Couto; Heeney (Glenfield 70), Johnson, McMenamy (Barrett 72); Amond (Voilas 85), Lonergan (Noonan 85).
A Hunter (Fermanagh)
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