Paul McCarthy, who put in a good shift, in action here against Alex Williams.
Waterford United 0; St Patrick’s Athletic 0
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Waterford United held Premier League outfit St Patrick’s Athletic to a draw at the RSC on Saturday afternoon and there is no doubt whatsoever that Stephen Henderson’s side are really beginning to blend together ahead of the opening game of the season against Wexford Youths on Friday, March 5th.
All 18 players got a run at some stage, the only one to miss out being the injured Gareth Cambridge. Players to impress for the locals were centre-half John Hayes who looked extremely solid playing alongside Kevin Murray, while Liam Kearney had his moments in the first half. Tramore’s Paul McCarthy also put in a very good shift.
As is the norm in games like this, a number of changes were made in the second half and new signing from Clonmel Town James Sullivan looked the real deal operating as an attacking midfielder.
Timmy Purcell was very impressive when he came on and young Gary Keane also displayed some wonderful touches. All in all this was a very worthwhile outing for Waterford.
Pete Mahon, the St Pat’s manager, used all of his players also but he will know that he has a lot of work ahead with his new-look squad.
The visitors did have a number of chances during the opening 45 minutes. Blues goalkeeper Chris Konopka missed the flight of the ball on seven minutes from a Gareth Coughlan left-wing cross but Alex Williams, who was lurking at the far post, headed wide.
Vinny Flaherty lobbed the ball over the crossbar just after the half-hour mark after he had controlled a throw-in from Gareth Coughlan. The best chance for the Dubliners arrived on 39 minutes when former Waterford player Dave Mulcahy played in Alex Williams, but Konopka raced from his line to narrow the angle and the striker dragged his shot wide.
For full story see our print edition.
