- Aisling Hannon
- Thu, Feb 16 2023
Manager: Danny Searle
Stadium: Regional Sports Centre
Players in: Charles Ondo (Huddersfield Town), Ronan Coughlan (St. Patrick’s Athletic), Ryan Burke (Bohemians), Chris Conn-Clarke (Fleetwood Town), Barry Baggley (Fleetwood Town), Giles Phillips (Aldershot Town), Matthew Connor (Galway United), Connor Parsons (Wycombe Wanderers), Dean McMenamy (Longford Town), Thomas Oluwa (Athlone Town)
Players out: Yassine En Neyah, Junior Quitirna (Fleetwood Town), Phoenix Patterson (Fleetwood Town), Brian Murphy (retired)
Extratime.com Key Man: Connor Parsons
The 22-year-old midfielder signed from Wycombe Wanderers is tipped to play a crucial role in Waterford’s attack this season.
Clocking up the goal count came easy to the Blues in 2022 – they scored 70 in total, the highest in the league - but Parsons will certainly add to the tally.
The youngster is known for his speed and has been on the roster at Bromley, Solihull Moors and Icelandic side Dalvik/Reynir where he scored three goals in six appearances, bringing plenty of experience to the table.
Extratime.com One to Watch: Darragh Power
The quick and dependable full-back returns to the first team for his fourth season, having won the U19 league with the Blues in 2019.
The 22-year-old made over 35 appearances for the club in 2022 and was part of a solid defence that conceded just 34 league goals last season, the third fewest in the division.
Focus will be on the back line in 2023 and Power will be a huge name to watch and, despite his youth, shows a distinct maturity and is quick-thinking under pressure.
How they did last season:
League: The team played some incredible football in 2022, with players like Phoenix Patterson and Junior Quitirna being a constant threat in front of goal.
Both will be a huge loss this season, with Quitirna unable to return to the club due to visa issues and Patterson making the move to League One side Fleetwood Town.
Waterford started the campaign in good form but lost to title challengers Cork City and Galway United both home and away within the first half of the season.
Despite winning seven games with a margin of three goals or more heading into the mid-way stage, those losses proved costly and a further 3-1 defeat at home to Wexford in July stunted their chances of topping the table.
A further draw and defeat to Cork in the Autumn left them ending the season with an honourable second-place in the league following a decent winning run.
The Blues then went on to play Treaty United in the play-off to snatch promotion to the Premier Division, winning 4-1 at Markets Field before a 3-3 draw at the RSC.
The comfortable aggregate score led to a tie with Galway which finished 3-0 to Danny Searle’s side before eventually falling at the final hurdle in a 1-0 defeat to UCD.
FAI Cup: The team went on a fantastic cup run, managing to juggle both an intense league campaign and a further chance at silverware.
The first round saw them secure a 3-2 win over St. Patrick’s Athletic at Richmond Park before defeating Malahide United 6-0 in the round of 16.
A home tie was then set up against Dundalk for the quarter-final, who had narrowly beaten Wexford in the previous fixture.
Goals from Shane Griffin, Power and Patterson secured a tight 3-2 win over the Lilywhites to set-up a semi-final clash with Shelbourne at the RSC.
Despite their best efforts, it wasn’t to be for the home side as Gavin Molloy’s early goal earned the visitors a 1-0 victory and a ticket to their first FAI Cup final since 2011.
What to expect this season:
The Blues are currently the bookies favourite to win the league in 2023, despite losing the prominent Phoenix Patterson to sister club Fleetwood Town.
The latter’s outstanding free-kicks and inswinging corners were vital to Waterford’s campaign last year.
The club have, however, retained some fantastic players from last season, such as striker Wassim Aouachria who scored 12 goals in 19 matches.
They have done some admirable transfer business over the break, signing the likes of striker Thomas Oluwa from Athlone Town who scored 11 goals last season, and Giles Phillips who has 51 appearances with Aldershot Town to his name.
Also coming in is highly rated midfielder Dean McMenamy, who made 30 appearances in Longford’s promotion push in 2022.
Behind the scenes, Jonathan Walters has been appointed as Technical Director and will keep close relations with Fleetwood Town where he performs the same role.
Pre-season was an unusual one for the club, jetting off to Dubai in preparation for the new campaign with a 5-2 victory secured in the friendly fixture against UAE Third Division side The Green Herons.
The latest pre-season game finished with a 2-0 victory for St. Patrick’s Athletic however Waterford will be hopeful that this can be their year to secure the title, or at least another opportunity via the play-offs.
First Game: Wexford FC (Ferrycarrig Park)
