Fidel Fires the 20s to First Place

Two excellent late goals gave Waterford FC’s Under-17s a great derby win in Cork on Sunday. Derek Hearne’s Blues showed terrific discipline and resilience to grind out a very important three points in what is looking like an extremely competitive Tier Two (South). 

This was a real battle of rivals in Midleton and the game was still scoreless with just three minutes to play. The breakthrough came when a Cork clearance fell to substitute Alex Capocci thirty yards out and the young Australian deftly chipped goalkeeper Caleb Murray to score in spectacular style. City pushed forward to find an equaliser, but the Blues made it 2-0 six minutes into added time with a nicely-taken free kick. Daire Cummins lined it up twenty-five yards from goal and sent the ball to the keeper’s right and into the net to wrap up a precious win. 

Huge credit has to go to Waterford goalkeeper Conor Murphy and his defence – made up of Cummins, Jack Barden, Jack Ryan and captain Ryan Butler. Barden, midfielder Billy Carney and striker Nathan Power all stepped up from the Under-15s and had fine performances. The Blues move up to third in the table after this result.

 

Fidel Pululu heads in his second goal (Rafal Bacela)

The Under-20s also won 2-0 this weekend as they triumphed over Treaty United at SETU Arena on Saturday courtesy of two first-half goals from Fidel Pululu (main picture - Rafal Bacela). Goforth Amedu, Noah O’Brien, Orion Cala and Filip Wasilewski all started for the Blues having been substitutes for the first team the night before. Pululu opened the scoring after 34 minutes with a good finish inside the six-yard box and doubled the lead in first-half stoppage time with a well-taken header. Eddie Nolan’s team have now opened up a commanding lead at the top of Tier Two (South) with four wins and a draw from their five games to date. 

The Under-17 girls made it back-to-back wins with a strong 3-1 victory against Treaty United on Saturday. The visitors actually took the lead on 22 minutes through Honor Mulvihill, but Waterford drew level by half-time when Rachael Duff teed Kate Dalton up to score. Amy Walsh put the Blues ahead six minutes into the second half before Jodie Roche struck her second goal in as many games when she converted a 64th-minute penalty. Several new young signings were in the squad with Clara Cullinane, Molly Dooling, Sophie Holden, Vittoria Pascolini and Libby Rossiter all involved for the first time. 

 

Molly Dooling was one of the debutants for the Under-17s

Having scored four goals last week, Eva O’Gorman kept up her great form with another goal in the Women’s Development League on Sunday. She opened the scoring for the Under-23s away to Cobh Ramblers with a goal the 31st minute from a Kate Tomkins assist. The hosts equalised ten minutes into the second half courtesy of Orla McCarthy and the scoreline remained 1-1 at the final whistle. 

Both the Under-14s and 15s fell to 5-1 defeats away to Galway United over the weekend with Danny Rakel scoring the goal for the former and Charlie Flynn on target for the latter. Both teams have seen good performances rewarded with players being moved up to older age groups – something that new Director of the Waterford FC Academy Johnny Dunleavy has strongly encouraged - and that has opened up opportunities for other players with some exciting new signings ready to bolster the ranks in the coming weeks.