Last Minute Winner To Start Season - Waterford vs. Bohemian

One of the stands at The RSC

The only time I'd previously been to Ireland was to Waterford with my family nearly fifteen years ago and with me craving some competitive football I thought it was time to head back. As well as having a summer season, most of the games in The League of Ireland are played on Friday and Monday evenings so means you can catch two games in a long weekend. Waterford were in their second season back in The Premier Division and had finished fourth in their first but were towards the bottom this time round. Their opponents tonight were Bohemian (who I'd be seeing on Monday night) and they had brought a reasonable following from Dublin and were looking to secure European football for next season.

After a long four weeks, the 2019-20 season begins

This was Waterford's first league game in five weeks and it takes them a little while for them to get going and Bohemian get stronger as the half goes on. The visitors take the lead with an own goal as the defender steers a cross past his own keeper. Bohemian return the favour when the ball is chested past his own keeper. In the second half, Waterford have a lot of the play but fail to get the second goal which of course leads to the inevitable sucker punch. In the last minute of stoppage time, Bohemian win a corner and the player powers the shot past the keeper at the near post to the delight of the travelling fans (see last picture). 

Bohemian on the attack with the town in the background

To get to Waterford from Dublin airport (I'll cover the first leg in the next post) you need to catch the 747 bus from outside terminal one to Heuston Station which takes half an hour depending on traffic with the buses departing every ten minutes. Then from Heuston you can catch the train direct to Waterford which takes two hours. The ground is half an hour or so out of town, the nearest pubs to the ground are Norris's Bar and Alfie Hales Sports Bar which are both about ten minutes from the ground. The bar by far in Waterford was Phil Grimes which had the best selection of beer I saw while in Ireland and is twenty minutes from The RSC. There is no bar for non season ticket holders at the ground. I really enjoyed my visit to Waterford, there are plenty of interesting museums and is a good base for going to explore Wexford and Kilkenny.

Bohs fans celebrating at full time