In a surprising spin of events at Dalymount Park, Waterford turned the tables on Bohemians with a 3-2 victory, even after trailing 0-2, courtesy of a stunning closing goal from Sam Glenfield.
This victory marks Glenfield’s much awaited debut goal for Waterford since his loan move from Fleetwood Town, ushering the team back into a winning streak in the league after a trio of earlier losses. This win propelled them into the third spot on the Premier Division’s standings.
Bohemians were dealt a hard blow in the closing moments, squandering an opportunity to level the score when Dayle Rooney, who had previously scored and assisted, hit a 96th minute penalty against the crossbar.
Alan Reynolds’ Bohemians have now suffered their third loss to Waterford this season, taking their winless streak to nine league matches and their victory tally to just one in the past 14 fixtures, leaving them teetering third last in the current standings.
The opening minutes saw Bohemians going on the front foot and taking the lead within seven minutes. Captain Adam McDonnell masterminded an early advantage, making a headed run down the left flank before linking up with Dayle Rooney.
It was then entirely a solo effort from Rooney who outsmarted sluggish Blues’ right-back Darragh Power to slot a rising shot into the top corner of the goal netting his fourth goal in six fixtures.
Power managed to make amends, winning a free kick — a move that earned Rooney a yellow card — and nearly bagging a 17th-minute equaliser for Waterford.
Waterford’s skipper Barry Baggley’s free-kick was on point, finding Glenfield whose header forced an exceptional save from goalie Kacper Chorazka.
A close miss followed soon for Bohemians when Padraig Amond’s headed effort from Baggley’s corner flew over the crossbar.
With Dawson Devoy’s precise passing play, Bohemians got back into the game, doubling the lead by the 37th minute. A coordinated eight-pass move culminated in McDonnell setting Rooney up again on the left, whose crossing found Devoy who clinched a goal with a composed shot.
Within a minute of restarting the game, Waterford started staging their comeback.
Baggley initiated a short corner which was directed into the area by McDonald, leading to McDonnell of Bohemians inadvertently scoring an own goal. Following another short corner at the 62-minute mark, Waterford capitalised on incompetent defending to equalise. Despite not being entirely clear, Baggley’s cross was cleverly controlled by Amond, who subsequently set up Power to goal, despite Chorazka somewhat deflecting the ball.
Moving onto the 81st minute, Waterford netted what would be the game’s winning goal. Bohs exhibited poor defence from a long throw that gave Parsons an opportunity to assist Glenfield, who thumped the ball into the net from the area’s brink. An hour into injury time, Bohs could have equalised when Clarke was fouled jointly by Dean and Power. Unfortunately, Rooney’s shot rebounded from the crossbar.
The teams included Chorazka, Smith (replaced by Mills, 61), Miller, Kirk (replaced by Greive, 85), Byrne, McDonnell (substituted by Clarke, 85), Devoy, Grant (off for McDaid, 85), Tierney, Rooney and Akintunde (replaced by Piszczek, 85) for Bohemians. For Waterford, the team was made up of Jones, Power (replaced by Flynn, 80), Radkowski, Baggley (substituted by McMenamy, 80), Horton, Pattisson, Glenfield, McDonald (off for McCormack, 90+4), Burke, Parsons (replaced by Leahy, 90+1) and Amond. The game was officiated by Referee Damien MacGraith from Mayo and the attendance noted was 4,267.