Six of the Best for the U20s

Waterford FC's Under-20s were rampant on Saturday in a stunning 6-0 win over CK United with starring performances all around the field. Mason Murphy and Orion Cala scored two goals each, Bobby Keohan conjured up a hat-trick of assists and Noah O'Brien was immense at the back in marshalling the defence to a second consecutive clean sheet.

It took just ten minutes for the Blues to make the breakthrough with Keohan making a great run to get onto a wonderful switch of play by centre back Matt Barrett and whipping an excellent ball in for Murphy to finish confidently. Murphy struck again seven minutes later when Cala had a shot blocked down, reclaimed the ball and passed to the striker to score. And it was three just a couple of minutes later with Cala bursting down the left brilliantly and when his shot went across goal, Fidel Pululu was on hand to slot home from close to the goal. The win was done and dusted, to all intents, by the 24th minute when Cala got on the scoresheet himself for the first time - a sweet strike from another pass by the dynamic Keohan.

Eddie Nolan's Blues were in complete control from that point with Aaron Brennan, fresh from his recent first-team debut, catching the eye. Under-15s player Billy Carney made his debut at this level as a replacement for the last half hour. Not content with that impressive achievement for his age, the midfielder engineered an assist for the fifth goal when he released Cala, who cut across the box and unleashed a ferocious right-footed shot to the far corner. There was still time for one more goal as substitute Jan Wozniak finished from yet another Keohan assist in the final minutes. This dominant win puts Waterford back on top of the Tier Two table with two games to play.

Nathan Power captaining the Under-15s in Bishopstown (Photo - Cork City)

Sunday saw a pair of dramatic late wins for academy teams over Treaty United with the Under-17s boys and Under-23s claiming 2-1 and 5-4 wins respectively at SETU Arena. Callum Slattery was the hero for the 17s with a 93rd-minute winner that led to raucous celebrations. Evan Lonergan opened the scoring after 56 minutes from a Daire Cummins pass, but the Limerick lads equalised as late as the 85th minute from Michael Omojoefodun. It would have been a disappointing loss of two points so late only the Blues kept battling and Slattery got on the end of Julian Power's pass deep into stoppage time to secure a vital victory that moves Waterford up to second in Tier Two.

The Women's Development League game was, arguably, even more exciting as Treaty fought back from three goals down to level against the Under-23s (main picture), but had their hopes dashed by the excellent Abbie Gaffney, whose strike tipped the nine-goal thriller in the Blues' balance with just five minutes left on the clock. Eva O'Gorman bagged her second hat-trick of the season with Sarah Abullo also on the scoresheet as Brendan White's team led 4-1 early in the second half. However, the visitors clawed their way back into the game with three goals between the 69th and 81st minutes and seemed to have earned an unlikely point. But central defender Gaffney showed all her leadership skills to seal an unforgettable win for the girls.

Elsewhere, Terry Renwick, Daniel Rakel and Callum O'Sullivan all scored for the Under-14s, but they lost out 5-3 in another exciting game away to Cobh Ramblers. The youngest Blues showed great character to equalise on three separate occasions, but two late goals won the day for the hosts. Lexie Ferris struck a sweet penalty kick for the Under-17 girls on Saturday, but it was too late to prevent a 3-1 loss away to Peamount United in Dublin. The Blues stay third in Tier Two as they approach the upcoming knockout phase. Finally, the Tier One Under-15s lost 2-0 away to Cork City at Bishopstown, although it was a very positive performance by the talented Blues.