Away Day Problems For Blues

The Last Word by Brendan White

(first published in the August 2010 Shelbourne match programme)

Waterford United’s away form this season is a factor that may come back to haunt us come the end of the season.

10 wins from 16 last season, along with four draws and two defeats gave the Blues 34 points of their combined 66 last season. The Blues scored 26 goals in their 16 League games away from the RSC. By contrast, 11 away League games so far this season have brought just four wins, with three defeats and four draws. The 10 goals scored have been cancelled out by the ten conceded. That’s 15 points from a possible 33 away from home.

The start of the season saw the Blues win their first three away games of the season against Cork City, Mervue United and Salthill Devon. Since the third of April the Blues have won just once away from home, and from the 7th May following the Shelbourne victory, the Blues have failed to pick up three points on the road. Monaghan United and Longford Town beat the Blues 1-0 and 2-1 respectively.  The next two games saw a 1-0 defeat to Wexford Youths followed by a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Derry City.

The last three games where many would have expected a minimum of two victories turned out to gather just three points between them.  A hard fought draw in Limerick was followed by a 1-1 draw against Finn Harps. Last Thursday saw the Blues travel to Athlone Town for a must win game. Unfortunately, despite taking the lead, we left with just a point to show for a very decent performance. Paul Murphy and John Kearney both denied by very good saves from Athlone Town keeper Michael Schlingermann.

With six more away games to come against Cork City, Mervue United, Salthill Devon, Monaghan United, Longford Town and Shelbourne with 18 points on offer, one feels that the majority of these games are must win to be in with a shout of grabbing a promotion spot.

With the Blues having already collected three points in Cork, Mervue, Salthill and Shelbourne, the team should be full of confidence going into these games.

Waterford United Away Form:
Played: 11
Won: 4/11
Drawn: 3/11
Lost: 4/11
Goals Scored: 10
Goals Conceded: 10
Points:  15/33