Treaty United Face Tough Waterford Assignment

Two in-form teams square off on Friday night as Waterford FC host Treaty United at the Regional Sports Complex (7.45). The Munster derby is eagerly anticipated, and Treaty arrive to the RSC off the back of four unbeaten games against the likes of Galway, Longford and Bray. Waterford enter the game following two comprehensive victories over Bray Wanderers and Cobh.

During Treaty’s last outing against Galway United at the Markets Field, a controversial penalty decision denied the Limerick side their first victory over John Caulfield’s side. The in-form Enda Curran had given Treaty the lead against his former club, but Walsh tucked away the late penalty much to the frustration of the vocal home support.

Tommy Barrett’s side are currently 8 points ahead of Wexford FC in the race for the final play-off spot with the South-East outfit having a game in hand. Even though it is unlikely that Wexford will beat Cork, Galway and Treaty in their final three games to leapfrog the latter team, Barrett will be hoping his side can emulate their second half performance against Danny Searle’s side during the 1-2 loss at the Markets Field in the most recent meeting between the sides and confirm their place in the play-offs.

On the injury front, Dean George is expected to miss the game with a knee injury but outside of that, Barrett will have a full squad to choose from. It will be interesting to see whether Treaty make any changes to the team with the FAI Cup semi-final also coming up in Derry in a week and with the likes of Success Edogun and Matt Keane pushing for more game time.

Conor Melody put in a much-improved performance against Galway, and he is likely to continue to start along with Willie Armshaw on the opposite wing. Jack Lynch will be another player expected to start although with Callum McNamara expected to return, Lynch may play at right-back or midfield. Jack Brady will continue in goal and the influential Marc Ludden will be looking to maintain his recent good form at left-back.

As mentioned previously, Curran has been in great form in recent weeks along with the likes of Lee Devitt, Mark Walsh and Sean Guerins. The spine of the Limerick side has been very solid, and it will be needed on Friday as they look to curtail the impact of Phoenix Patterson and Wassim Aouchria. The forward line has been catching the attention of many especially during the victory over Dundalk in the FAI Cup. Junior Quitirna completes a dynamic front three which have contributed handsomely to the figure of 63 goals scored which is the best in the division.

In the four previous competitive meetings between the sides this season, both sides have emerged with two victories apiece. Treaty earned the first win in the Munster Senior Cup quarter-final in late January at the University of Limerick with Sean Guerins and Dean George scoring during a 2-0 win.

In the first league meeting at the Markets Field, Treaty were once again victorious with a 2-1 win. Matt Keane and Enda Curran gave the home side a 2-0 lead before Eddie Nolan scored for the visitors. At the RSC, Waterford dismantled Treaty 4-0 with a scintillating second half display courtesy of goals from the now departed Louis Britton, Roland Idowu, Shane Griffin and Cian Kavanagh. As we alluded to earlier, the most recent meeting ended in a narrow 1-2 defeat for Treaty in Limerick with Tummise Sobowale and Daragh Power scoring before Success Edogun scored his second Treaty goal since arriving from Athlone in July.

Adrian Finnin and Noel O’Connor previewed the game on this week’s episode of the ‘The Soccer Scene’ which you can see below.