Shelbourne v Waterford
SSE Airrtricity League – First Division
Tolka Park – March 17th – KO 7.45pm
Pre-season favourites Waterford FC come to Tolka Park on St.Patrick’s Day for their first SSE Airtricity League, First Division meeting of the season with Shelbourne. Kick-off at the Drumcondra venue is scheduled for 7.45pm.
Shelbourne travelled to St. Colman’s Park last Saturday and played Stephen Henderson’s Cobh Ramblers in a tight game, which ultimately saw each team come out with a point. In what was a very entertaining game on a sticky pitch, which was scoreless at half-time, the home side went in front, scoring from a soft enough penalty – their captain Chris McCarthy sending Dean Delany the wrong way with his spot kick – on 73 minutes.
The Shelbourne work rate and tenacity, which was missing in the first half especially of their game away to UCD the previous week, was very evident in this game and paid off when in added time, Adam Evans attacked up the left wing and with two defenders closing in, he pushed the ball forward and from almost the end line struck a firm cross into the box, which the Cobh ‘keeper could only flap at, as it flew over him and into the far corner. This goal was enough to get a share of the points and was also Shelbourne’s first league goal of the season.
Waterford travelled to Belfield last Friday night and took all three points from their game with UCD. In what was a relatively quiet first half, the visitors came to life in the second period, with Patrick McClean scoring on 61 minutes and Tom Smith adding to that 24 minutes later – ending up 2-0 winners
That win left ‘The Blues’ at the top of the table on six points, four points ahead of Shelbourne in seventh position.
The four games last season saw one win for Shelbourne, with Waterford United winning the remainder. The first game, at the RSC 4-1 was the win for Shelbourne, which featured a hat-trick from James English. The next game (TP) ended 2-0 for United, next (RSC) was 2-1 win for the home side and Waterford came out on top in their final meeting (TP) scoring the only goal of the game.
League records since 2007 show that of the 25 games played, Shelbourne have won 16, Waterford have won 5, with 4 drawn. Of the 57 goals scored [an average of 2.28 per game], 37 were scored by the Reds, with the Blues scoring 20.
Jack Tuite is suspended for a second week, following the red card at UCD and there is no good news for manager Owen Heary regarding those missing last weekend – Dylan Kavanagh, James O’Brien, Chris Lyons and Adam O’Connor all remain on the injured list, while James English, who played last week, after being listed as injured, is listed as doubtful for Friday
Suspended: Jack Tuite
Injured: James O’Brien, Dylan Kavanagh, Chris Lyons, Adam O’Connor.
Doubtful: James English
Goal Scorers (Competitive 2017)
James English – 3 (3 LSC)
Dayle Rooney – 1 (1 LSC)
Adam Evans – 1
| Previous Meetings | |||
| Date: | October 15, 2016 | ||
| Shelbourne 0-1 Waterford | |||
| Shels Scorer/s: | |||
| Date: | August 12, 2016 | ||
| Waterford 2-1 Shelbourne | |||
| Shels Scorer/s: | J. Doyle | ||
| Date: | June 24, 2016 | ||
| Shelbourne 0-2 Waterford | |||
| Shels Scorer/s: | |||
| Date: | April 15, 2016 | ||
| Waterford 1-4 Shelbourne | |||
| Shels Scorer/s: | English 3, J.Doyle | ||
| Competitive 2017 | |||
| Date: | March 11, 2017 | ||
| Cobh Ramblers 1-1 Shelbourne | |||
| Shels Scorer/s: | Evans | ||
| Date: | March 3, 2017 | ||
| UCD 4-0 Shelbourne | |||
| Shels Scorer/s: | |||
| Date: | February 24, 2017 | ||
| Shelbourne 0-0 Longford Town | |||
| Shels Scorer/s: | |||
| Date: | February 17, 2017 | ||
| Shelbourne 4-2 Wexford (Leinster Senior Cup) | |||
| Shels Scorer/s: | English 3, Rooney |
| SHELBOURNE LEAGUE RECORD AGAINST WATERFORD | |||
| Since 2007 | |||
| Total Games | 25 | 12 | at Tolka Park |
| Shels wins | 16 | 6 | at Tolka Park |
| Waterford Wins | 5 | 4 | at Tolka Park |
| Draws | 4 | 2 | at Tolka Park |
| Shels Goals | 37 | 16 | at Tolka Park |
| Waterford Goals | 20 | 11 | at Tolka Park |
