Tuesday Blue

Lauren Egbuloniu is this week’s Tuesday Blue as she continues her return to the Waterford Women’s team after over a year out with a really unfortunate ACL injury picked up in our first ever competitive game. The exciting striker put in the work during her recovery and is back to boost the Blues now.

Lauren, from Cobh, turns 24 next month and was a key signing for Gary Hunt last year. The plan was for her to lead the line in Waterford’s inaugural season, but an injury just half an hour into the first game away to Treaty United at the Market’s Field turned out to be a torn ACL ligament that ended her year there and then.

Egbuloniu first made her mark with Passage United and then Cork City before moving to the USA on a soccer scholarship. She played with Louisiana Tech from 2021 to ‘24 while studying kinesiology. A former Ireland underage international, she was considered a coup as a signing last year before it ended so quickly and cruelly.

 

Lauren with new Blues teammate Blessing Kingsley in their time in US college soccer

What made Lauren’s comeback all the sweeter and more welcome was her contribution to the squad last year. She travelled for all the games to support her new teammates and helped with advice and encouragement every chance she got.

Finally, she was able to go back to full training in April after a tough thirteen months of grafting her way through the recovery process. She made her return as a 75th-minute substitute in the Premier Division match against Athlone Town and added another 25 minutes off the bench in Sunday’s superb All-Island Cup win away to Glentoran.

With the Blues (in red) already holding a one-goal lead, Lauren’s role was mainly to press and chase down defenders in possession (something in which she excelled), but she also showed signs of what she can really bring to the team with a couple of great runs down the channel and several great, probing passes forward.

After a year of frustration, she is back and ready to open her account with her first Blues goal. It might come this Saturday afternoon when Waterford host Sligo Rovers at the RSC for a three o’clock kickoff. Get in there and back the Blues and you’ll certainly enjoy it.