The Famous 6 in 8

1.  The scoreless draw in Drogheda was instantly forgettable, but it was also a match that Waterford probably would have lost earlier in the season. The team played with more shrewdness than for much of the last two seasons. They say you have to make yourself hard to beat first – that hasn’t been a hallmark of the current Blues. The team now has a veteran core with Andy Boyle, Jordan Rossiter and Pádraig Amond down the spine and all three stood out in Sullivan & Lambe Park. Not that it was a classic Amond game with very few threatening attacks. It was his hold-up play, clever flick-ons and defensive work that contributed to the Blues gaining a point. Boyle was excellent at the back and Rossiter is making the midfield tougher. 

2.  Waterford have a habit of needlessly presenting cheap opportunities to opposing teams from set-pieces. The most blatant example of its cost was in the home game against Drogheda when Maarten Pouwels attempted to dribble past two defenders, coughed up the ball resulting in a corner, and United equalised. Last week, it was less of a direct cause when Stephen McMullan conceded a corner out of nothing from which St Pat’s sealed their win with a second goal, but it ended any chance the Blues had of snatching an unlikely point. There have been countless instances of this against John Caulfield’s Galway in recent years and nothing plays into their hands more.

One occasion which stood out last night was midway through the second half when Grant Horton picked up a yellow card for battering into Warren Davis. The forward was on the sideline, moving away from goal and passing back to the halfway line so there was no legitimate reason for it. It gave Drogheda the kind of chance they wanted to put the ball in the box. Fortunately, nothing came of it, but moments like those can be the losing of a game so better discipline is needed.

 

Jordan Rossiter makes the midfield tougher

 

3.  As for set-pieces themselves, the Blues were much improved from last week. They are at a disadvantage in physical size in almost every game so corners, free kicks and even long throws are a constant challenge. In attack, Conan Noonan’s deliveries were far better this week and, defensively, McMullan and his team were solid. Boyle, McDonald, Horton, Burke, even Amond, won countless defensive headers and tight marking prevented Conor Keeley and co from taking advantage of an Achilles Heel for the Blues. Kacper Radkowski will return and John Coleman will certainly look to add more height to the defence next year.

4.  The Blues have kept four clean sheets this season – all of them with Kyle White at left wing back. He’s a tricky player to judge. Some of his qualities go under the radar. He is deceptive running with the ball - always looking like he’s about to lose it and then beating two, three, four tackles. He makes mistakes, but is an honest player who is even reminiscent of Kevin Kilbane – it shouldn’t work, but it does. The best piece of quality last night came from him. Thomas Oluwa won the ball from Burke, Rossiter missed his tackle, and the striker ran sixty yards with the ball at breakneck speed. Five Blues tried desperately to catch up, but only White had a chance to stop him. He held his ground perfectly to discourage the pass to Josh Thomas who would surely have scored. Then, just as Oluwa shaped to smash the ball to the net himself, White threw himself into a lunging block that deflected the ball over the bar for a corner. No other moment had as much effect on the outcome of this game and it was textbook defending from the 21-year-old.

 

Kyle White sticking to his task

5.  That brings us to the enigma that is Oluwa. The former Blues striker played a major role in this game as the chief threat to Waterford, but also one of the main reasons they kept a clean sheet. He can be a frustrating player to watch – unstoppable at times, wasteful at others. He looked a star in the making when he was taking his first senior steps with Shamrock Rovers including scoring a great goal at the RSC in a 5-1 win at the age of 18. Six years later, he has still only scored three career goals in the Premier Division so he just hasn’t fulfilled his potential. Last night, Drogheda’s best two chances fell to Oluwa and he wasted them. He was a real handful with his pace, but ultimately failed to make it count. The enigma continues.

6.  For most of the season, a lack of depth in the squad acted as a straitjacket for Waterford’s managers. There is finally strength on the bench now with some good options to change a game. It was strange then that the only substitution Coleman made last night was to bring Trae Coyle on for the final five minutes. That must have been a strategic decision to hold firm rather than try using Coyle, Miles or Dempsey to get behind the Drogheda defence with Lonergan having a quiet game. It was a little surprising though that Glenfield’s energy wasn’t called upon at any stage. The manager knows best, however, when it comes to the relative fitness of players or how they’re performing in training. Kevin Doherty was able to make three changes to give the Blues different challenges in Davis, O’Sullivan and Kareem. It worked out for Waterford last night, but the squad will ideally progress to the point where the manager can call on subs to make that marginal difference between one point and three. 

All images from L.McQuillan/Drogheda United