Waterford v St Patrick's Athletic Preview

The Blues return from the international break hoping to improve on a pair of poor performances beforehand. We can expect another crowd of three-thousand plus with very limited stand tickets still available for a vital match.

Waterford have a very strong record against St Pat’s in recent years, especially at home. In nine meetings at the RSC since 2018, Waterford have won six and drawn two. Keith Long’s men won both home games last season. First, there was a 3-1 win on a Monday night last March with Pádraig Amond scoring twice and Maleace Asamoah wrapping up the points. Then, there was a 1-0 win at the beginning of July when Ben McCormack scored the winner against his former club. 

 

 

That win was Waterford’s peak last year, putting them third in the table and nine points clear of seventh-placed Pat’s with two games in hand. The two clubs’ form completely flipped after that with the Dubliners finishing third, fourteen points clear of the Blues in seventh. 

Waterford’s last home defeat to the Saints came in July 2019. Cory Galvin gave Alan Reynolds’ side the lead, but goals from Conor Clifford and Dean Clarke gave Harry Kenny’s team a 2-1 win.

 

Familiar Faces

Two former favourites return to the RSC wearing away kit tomorrow. Zack Elbouzedi had an outstanding season with the Blues in 2019 which revitalised his career. After time playing in England and Sweden, he returned to Ireland last summer as a shrewd signing by Stephen Kenny and scored against Waterford in September. Barry Baggley spent the last two seasons here on loan from Fleetwood Town. He was Waterford’s captain for 2024, but missed half of the season through injury. He signed for St Pat’s on a permanent basis in December.

On the flip side, Tommy Lonergan and Matty Smith, as well as McCormack, have played for St Pat’s and Ryan Burke came through their academy. Smith, however, is still missing through injury and not even mentioned in team news now. 

Andy Boyle also misses out tomorrow due to a hamstring issue. Meanwhile, Navajo Bakboord’s game for Suriname in Martinique only finished yesterday morning (Irish time) so his availability must be highly doubtful. Stephen McMullan and Sam Glenfield, however, returned from international duty with the Northern Ireland Under 21s and only played one game each out of three in a camp in Turkey so should both be fine. 

 

 

The visitors are without midfielders Romal Palmer and Kian Leavy through injury. Striker Mason Melia is the talk of the town as the 17-year-old has signed for Tottenham Hotspur for €2 million plus add-ons, but won’t move until next year. Aidan Keena, meanwhile, is the Premier Division’s top scorer with an impressive five goals so far. 

Pat’s usually start with a 4-3-3 formation (particularly away from home) with Elbouzedi and deadball specialist Jake Mulraney either side of either Keena or Melia. In midfield, Chris Forrester is still one of the most gifted players in the league at 32 years of age while Brandon Kavanagh had the most goal contributions of anyone in the whole league last year (six goals, fourteen assists). Defensively, they have Joe Redmond, Seán Hoare and Axel Sjoberg amongst their options. 

It's fifth hosting second in the early league table, but only a point separates the sides. St Pat’s began the season disappointingly with a scoreless draw at home to Drogheda United and defeat in Galway, but have won three out of four since. Those three wins have all been in Richmond Park, however, versus Sligo Rovers (4-3), Derry City (2-0) and Bohemians (3-0) while losing 1-0 away to Shamrock Rovers. 

 

Top of the Table

 

The Blues need to bounce back from consecutive defeats without scoring (0-3 at home to Bohs and 0-1 in Galway). Trae Coyle should come into consideration after his early season absence through injury. He could add much-needed pace to the attack, which should also see Lonergan return having missed the game in Galway. Rowan McDonald might come back into midfield where James Olayinka was a bright spot in those two losses.

Waterford have done very well against this opponent recently and Amond has been a thorn in their side. A draw would not be a bad result for either side, but a home win could potentially propel the Blues back to the top of the table.

(All photographs courtesy of Noel Browne)