Waterford United U20s  4 – 0  Kilkenny City U20s

 
The Waterford United Under 20 team travelled to Buckley Park to play Kilkenny City on Sunday last and came away with a comprehensive win.  This was a good performance by the young Blues team who applied continuous pressure on the Kilkenny side.

Waterford opened brightly, their fast inter-passing movements keeping the pressure on their opponents from the start, with Paul O’Brien, Paul Carey, Aaron Butler and Gary Keane all getting involved early, and setting the tempo for the game. At the other end the sporadic attacks from the home side were dealt with comfortably by the defence: O’Brien, Eoin Burke, Leo Jacques and captain Kevin Gahan, with the in-form goalkeeper Josh Byrne rarely threatened.

The Blues opened the scoring  in the 30th minute. Kenny Purcell put determined pressure on the Kilkenny defence as they tried to clear, and the ball ricocheted high into the home net. Shortly afterwards Declan Woodgate was forced to leave the field through a recurring toe injury and was replaced by new signing Ben Ryan, whose intelligent play and distribution had an immediate effect on the game. The Blues continued to open up the home defence and shots  from Keane, Jacques, Butler and Andrew Power all tested the Kilkenny keeper. He could do little about Waterford’s second, however, as on 40 minutes Eoin Burke broke through from the middle and unleashed a 30 yard drive low and hard to the back of the net.

Kilkenny began the second half determined to get back into the game but Waterford held firm and a great cross from Paul O’Brien was controlled superbly by Ben Ryan and confidently side-footed home for goal number three. John Whitty replaced Kenny Purcell on 76 minutes and he was quickly into the action, neatly beating two defenders and slotting home five minutes later, following excellent work by Gary Keane to put him through with a defence-splitting pass.
That wrapped up the scoring, and it was a good, strong, all-round performance by the young Blues. They played with determination and a will to win, and this team is well worth watching as these are very much the Waterford players of the future. Their next game is home to Limerick on Saturday 1st August at 2.00pm, at the Waterford Crystal Sports Centre.

Team: Josh Byrne, Paul O’Brien, Kevin Gahan, Leo Jacques, Eoin Burke, Paul Carey, Aaron Butler, Andrew Power, Declan Woodgate (Ben Ryan 34), Kenny Purcell, Gary Keane (John Whitty 76) – subs: Moses Okereafor, Robbie Flynn, Ian Daly

Goals: Purcell 30, Burke 40, Ryan 53, Whitty 76