BLUE DISARRAY
Bohs punish rudderless Waterford
KEVIN SHEEDY refused to be drawn on reports of dressing-room unrest after his Waterford side last night slipped to their fourth Premier Division defeat in five.
Bohemians centre-back Rob Cornwall inflicted the latest loss of the Italia 90 legend’s first managerial reign but it was the non-appearances at the RSC of last season’s and this season’s captains which proved the major talking points.
Veteran stopper BrianMurphy was dropped from the squad, giving way for Paul Martin to start his first ever league game in goal at the age of 22.
Oscar Brennan didn’t feature in the squad either despite completing a suspension.
Sheedy declined to comment on reports of a training ground bust-up, cutting short his postmatch interviews when questioned on his selection.
‘I will only answer questions on the game,’ he said, refusing to confirm whether Murphy would return for Tuesday’s visit to St Patrick’s Athletic.
On the pitch, Bohs racked up a second successive win without being stretched.
Keith Ward tested Martin early on with a stinging shot that the rookie had to gather after initially parrying while Georgie Kelly spurned a golden chance on the half-hour by heading straight at the stopper.
Set-piece specialist Tyreke Wilson was instrumental in Waterford’s late European push last year and they’ve sorely missed the left-back since his close-season move to Bohs.
Although Martin tipped Wilson’s curling effort onto the crossbar, the rebound dropped into the six-yard box for Cornwall to force home.
Waterford should have equalised from their only real chance three minutes into the second half. Jamie Mascoll’s cross found Cameron Evans unmarked but the defender couldn’t generate enough power to trouble James Talbot in the visitors’ goal.
That was as much as Waterford conjured, unsurprising given they played the last 25 minutes a man down due to Isaac Tshipamba’s injury. Sheedy had already used up his three substitutes.
Jack Moylan should have added a second for the Gypsies on 70 minutes, only to shoot straight at Martin while another sub, Dawson Devoy, was wasteful when sent clear by Liam Burt in stoppage time.
Bohs manager Keith Long was only glad those misses didn’t cost them. ‘Tonight’s performance was a bit flat,’ he said. ‘We were down gears on what we showed up at Dundalk last week which was disappointing.
‘We didn’t take enough advantage of Waterford being down to 10 men. We need to be more clinical with our possession and movement.’ WATERFORD: P Martin; D Power, K Ferguson, C Evans, J Mascoll; I Tshipamba, T Sobolwale, A O’Reilly (K Mashigo 62), J Martin; J Waite (J Stafford 57), D Murphy (P Mustwunguma 36). BOHEMIANS: J Talbot; R Feely, R Cornwall, J Finnerty, T Wilson; A Coote, K Buckley; L Burt, R Tierney (J Moylan 63), K Ward (D Devoy 63); G Kelly. Scorer: R Cornwall 44. Referee: Adriano Reale (Kildare).