Cork City take the lead early against Waterford but lose their way in the second half as the Blues storm back to take a well deserved victory

Waterford 2 

Cork City 1 

Cork City suffered late heartache as the 10-men could not hold on against Waterford at the RSC on Monday night. 

City looked to be on course to their second-victory in four days when Alex Nolan gave them the lead but goals from Padraig Amond and a late Kyle White goal inflicted City’s first defeat of the season, who had Freddie Anderson sent off in the 63rd minute. 

It was a cruel defeat for City who were the better side in the first half but Waterford did dominate the second-period.

And to make matters worse for Tim Clancy injuries to Seani Maguire and Greg Bolger mean both must now be doubtful for the game against Sligo on Friday night at home.

It took Nolan less than eight minutes to make his impact on the game when he opened the scoring with a wonderful individual goal. 

The winger collected the ball close to the endline before turning Kyle White inside out, and from a tight angle fired the ball into the roof of the net.

Waterford came within inches of being level just a minute later when Dean McMenamy showed excellent technique by striking the ball with the outside of his foot only for his effort to come off the crossbar.

City’s response was strong with Nolan continuing to cause the home side problems. 

Seani Maguire and Ruairi Keating were also creating a lot of issues for the Waterford defence, however City were dealt a major blow when the former forced off with an injury.

Nolan should have had his second of the night when he was played through on goal by Harvey Skieters but this time the winger lacked the composure needed in front of goal and dragged his shot wide.

Waterford did start to become more of a presence in the game as the half aged but they never caused City any real problems, with the visitor’s defensive shape excellent. 

The workrate from the Rebel Army players was exceptional and they looked a real threat on the counter-attack. 

It was a comfortable first-half for City.

Waterford were level two minutes into the second-half after Padraig Amond was given far too much space inside the City penalty area and he made no mistake with a poachers finish from a Rowan McDonald ball into the box.

City struggled to get close to Waterford with the home side dominating the game. 

The departure of Greg Bolger at half-time had a major impact on City as they couldn’t get control of the match.

City’s night was made more difficult when they were reduced to 10-men after Freddie Anderson received his second-yellow card for a foul on Thomas Lonergan. 

Anderson could have little complaints about both yellow cards he received. From the resulting free; Lonergan’s effort clipped the top of the City crossbar.

Tein Troost continued his impressive start to his City career when he pulled off a fantastic stop to get a hand to Kacper Radkowski's powerful strike that looked destined for the top corner of the net only for Troost to quickly adjust his feet and parry the ball around the post.

The winning goal came three minutes from time when White pounched to knock the ball home after Troost had made a magnificent save to deny Lonergan.

Waterford: McMullan; Bakboord, Boyle, Radkowski, Leahy, White; McMenamy (Pouwels 74), McDonald; Noonan; Amond, Lonergan.

Cork City: Troost: Crowley, Anderson, Lyons, Couto; Nolan (Fitzpatrick 79), Bolger (S Murray 46), Nelson (Shipston 79), Dijksteel (Mbeng 64); Maguire (Skieters 21), Keating.

Referee: D MacGraith.