League Report: Waterford United 1 - 4 Shelbourne

A superb James English hat-trick and a Jamie Doyle strike helped Shelbourne power past Waterford United and climb to third in the League of Ireland First Division after an emphatic 4-1 victory at the RSC on Friday night.

After a scoreless opening fifteen minutes, the game burst into life as English put the Reds two to the good after just 21 minutes.

First, Gavin Boyne got on the end of a through ball on the right wing before planting the ball onto English’s foot and he made no mistake in firing it past Kevin Burns.

Four minutes later English had his second after Carl Walshe capitalized on a defensive mix-up before slotting it through to English who comfortably dispatched it into the net.

Just before the half-hour mark, Conor Keeley thought he had added Shelbourne’s third of the night when he slotted the ball home; however, he had strayed into an offside position in the build-up of the attack so the goal was ruled out.

Four minutes before half-time English was inches from bagging his third when Keeley spotted the striker bursting down the right. English controlled Keeley’s ball well but his shot fell just wide of the mark.

Waterford’s best chance fell on the stroke of the half-time whistle when Anthony McAlavey’s cross caused confusion in the Shelbourne box allowing  Aaron O’Connor to get a shot away, however, Greg Murray saved well.

Shelbourne had a couple of early second-half chances with Gareth Coughlan forcing Burns into stopping his effort while Daire Doyle had his shot deflected on its way towards the target causing it to roll just past the post.

Eoin Rhodes had a glorious opportunity to pull one back for Waterford with 53 minutes on the clock. Dean Broaders headed a long ball into Rhodes’ path but he failed to hit the target from six yards out.

Up the other end, a fabulous Cian Kavanagh strike from distance rebounded off the post before being quickly cleared to safety.

Jamie Doyle was then introduced for Coughlan and his impact was nothing short of immediate as he put his name on the scoresheet with his first touch of the ball after barely two minutes on the pitch.

Walshe spread a ball wide to English who swung it across to Doyle who comfortably placed it beyond Burns and into the net to put Kevin Doherty’s side three goals to the good.

With just over an hour played, the Blues did manage to reduce the deficit. McAlavey found Broaders in space who then picked out Rhodes in the box and he made no mistake in placing it into the corner of the net.

However, with 77 minutes on the clock Shelbourne’s three-goal advantage was restored as English bagged his third of the game. Boyne played a fantastic defence-splitting pass through to English who then raced in towards goal and kept his composure to beat Burns at his near-post.

Doyle came close to grabbing his second when his rocket-shot forced Burns to dive low and get a strong hand to the ball to turn it away from goal in what was a stunning stop by the Blues number one.

In the dying embers of the game there was time for one more chance for United. McAlavey’s thirty-yard free-kick crashed off the cross-bar before Shelbourne scrambled the ball away to ensure they returned to the capital with an impressive 4-1 score-line intact.

Waterford United: Kevin Burns; Ian Sinnott, Colum Nugent, Sean Byrne, Robbie Buckley; David O’Leary, Aaron O’Connor (Dean Broaders 46), James O’Brien, Dylan McGuire (Dean Reidy 70); Anthony McAlavey, Eoin Rhodes.

Subs not used: Matthew Sheehan, Darren Murphy, Shane Mackey, James Dermody, Dean Walsh.

Yellow Cards: O’Brien (76).

Shelbourne: Greg Murray; Adam O’Connor, Alan Kehoe, Conor Keeley, Robert Duggan; Daire Doyle, Gareth Coughlan (Jamie Doyle 57), Cian Kavanagh, Gavin Boyne, Carl Walshe (Lorcan Shannon 69); James English (Sodiq Oguntola 85).

Subs not used: Jack Brady, Dylan Kavanagh, Robert O’Reilly, Mark Sandford.

Yellow Cards: None.

Referee: David Keeler.

Attendance: 300 (Estimate).

Extratime Man of the Match: James English (Shelbourne).