Cass Shows His Class

Only three teams were in league action for the Waterford FC academy last weekend, but the Under-20s continued their recent strong form which has given them a great chance of qualifying for the elite phase of the league. Eddie Nolan’s side made it three wins in a row with a 2-1 victory away to Klub Kildare at FBD Hotels & Resorts Park to move into second place in their group with one game to play and with two teams qualifying for the highest level of underage football in the country.

The Blues took the lead as early as the sixth minute when Bobby Keohan received a short corner from Aaron Cass and crossed to Mason Murphy. The striker then unleashed a volley to the top corner from the edge of the box for his fourth goal in the last five matches. Waterford doubled the lead ten minutes into the second half when Peter Byrne played a good ball over the top for Cass, who took a touch and lashed to the top right of the net from twelve yards out – his second goal in as many weeks. Kildare pulled a goal back in the 84th minute through Oisin Irwin, but the visitors were deserved winners. Young centre back Conor Dempsey impressed as he stepped up from Under-17s to start at this level for the first time. He was very comfortable in possession and played a few excellent long passes to create attacks. 

Aaron Cass jumps for joy after his goal (Rafal Bacela)

Conceding two early goals cost the Under-23s in a 3-1 defeat away to Shamrock Rovers on Sunday in the Women’s Development League. Alice Buggle and Kassie McLoughlin gave Rovers a two-goal lead inside the opening five minutes which proved impossible to overcome. Sophie Poole scored her third goal of the season in the 63rd minute to narrow the deficit, but Mia Gaff sealed the win for the hosts win a third goal in the last minute of normal time. Several players from this team have been involved in the Waterford Women’s team of late with Caoimhe Carley featuring in Saturday’s clash against league champions Athlone Town while Kate Tomkins and Emma Bibby were on the bench. Sunday also saw the Under-14s fall to a 5-0 defeat against a Shamrock Rovers team who have been dominant all season so far. 

The Under-15s, who spent the weekend in Fleetwood at the Poolfoot Cup, had good news on Saturday when word filtered through that Bray Wanderers’ game with Shamrock Rovers had finished 2-2. That means that Xander Coolbear’s Blues have secured qualification for the elite stages of the league with a game to spare having beaten Klub Kildare 3-0 at SETU Arena on Wednesday evening. James Ferncombe was in top form with two assists in that game. Always a player with great vision, the ex-Dungarvan United man set Nathan Power up for his ninth goal of the season in the first two minutes of the game and created the second for Charlie Flynn on the stroke of half time. Billy Carney then put the result beyond doubt when he scored an absolute screamer in the 72nd minute.