AUGUST & SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER 2001

30-10-01 Blues progress in league cup: Waterford United last night made it through to the 2nd round of the eircom League Cup thanks to a 2-1 win over local rivals Kilkenny at the RSC. In a game that was delayed by 15 minutes due to Kilkenny players being caught behind an accident on the Dublin Road it took the Blues only minutes to pick up where they left off in Cobh on Friday night. Within 2 minutes Eric Bradley was only able to shoot tamely despite having just a defender on the line to beat but he made up for this minutes later when after Wayne Fitzgerald broke a Kilkenny forward move and gave the ball to Dempsey who in turn played a through ball to the Wexford man, whose shot just about found its way past the visitors keeper. It took only a further 2 minutes for the BLues to double their lead when a left wing cross from Gary Dempsey was slotted home from 2 yards by Barry Wood(or should that be, a left wing cross hit Woody's standing leg when he swung for the ball and went in!!. At this stage it looked as if the Blues would go on and win it in a canter but they seemed to lose concentration and allow Kilkenny back into the game and they made it 2-1 after capitalising on a slip by Brendan Rea which allowed Moore shoot home from 16 yards and the Blues could have felt lucky to go in at 2-1 when the Town missed a sitter on the stroke of half time. Kilkenny started brightly in the second half too but failed to make the breakthrough and when Brien was sent off on 62 mins for 2 bookable offences(2 fouls on Dempsey)within 2 minutes of each other the pendulum swung back towards the Blues who went on to miss a number of half chances including a goal-line clearance from an effort by Woody and a couple of chances from Joe Watson before the final whistle. The Blues now progress to the 2nd round where there will be 3 ties and 5 teams will be given byes to the 3rd round.

22-10-01 Blues sign O'Brien: With serious doubts over recent signing Trevor Berry's future at the club Paul Power has again strengthened his improving squad by signing 26 year old Colin O'Brien from Cork City on a 3 month loan deal. O'Brien usually plays wide on the right and is described by Cork's "citynet" website as "direct, brave and energetic and (with) a keen eye for goal. He signed for City in 1995 from local side Glasheen and suffered a career threatening injury in 1998 but has now fully recovered and his pace is sure to trouble many 1st division defences in the 3 months to come. Colin has also won an U-21 All Ireland football medal with Cork (Thanks to CityNet for the info about Colin)

20-10-01 Double delight for Blues: It was a weekend of double delight for the Blues as the seniors beat Sligo 2-0 on Friday night with Gary Dempsey again grabbing 2 goals. His first came after he shot home well after being put through by a Wayne Fitzgerald pass following some neat Blues interplay on the stroke of half time while his second was a delightful left footed chip which appeared to be sailing over the bar but dipped to beat the Sligo keeper after 62 mins. While on Saturday the Blues U-21s beat Cork City in Bishopstown 3-1 with goals coming from Damien Logan and Joe Watson who scored two to leave the young Blues in second place in the Southern section just behind Cobh Ramblers.

10-10-01 Blues collapse in Whitehall: Despite taking a first half lead through a David Whittle penalty afterEric Bradley had been upended,the Blues five game unbeaten run came to an end at Whitehall last night as Robbie Farrell grabbed a hat-trick in the last 20 minutes of the game to seal victory for the home side.

02-10-01 New Signing: The Blues have signed 27 year old midfielder Trevor Berry. The new signing has played over 300 games in the english league for Rotheram and has supposedly moved to Waterford to join his wife who moved here ? according to our sources the player approached Paul Power who quickly snapped him up here's hoping he can knock em in like our other scoring sensational signing Gary Dempsey

02-10-01 Deja Vous as Dempsey the hero in Blues victory: Gary Dempsey was again the hero for the Blues tonight in the RSC scoring twice to gain revenge for Limericks hammering of the blues earlier in the season.Again the RSC was sound asleep for the whole game and something really needs to be done to spice up the atmosphere, there have been a lot of great ideas but none have been put in to action yet.Just one more point does anyone know the stats for Bradley falling over we counted 14

05-09-01 Dempsey the hero in Blues victory: Gary Dempsey was the hero for the Blues tonight in Finn Park scoring twice to gain revenge for Harps victory at the RSC in the first game of the season. Dempsey gave the Blues the lead after twenty minutes when he shot home as the Blues were still appealing for a penalty that the referee had turned down after Thomas Fitzgerald appeared to be fouled inside the area. United then held out until half time despite Harps twice going close but they were kept out by clearances from Paul Leahy and Paul Binder. However Harps only had to wait until 10 minutes into the second half to grab an equaliser through player manager Jonathan Speake but hero Gary Dempsey struck for the second time on 67 minutes to give let the Blues reclaim the lead and that's the way it stayed as the defence held firm and Binder made a string of saves to give the Blues a hard earned and deserved 2-1 victory and lift them off the bottom of the league. Next Up: Drogheda United Fri 28th 7.30pm RSC

05-09-01 Dull weekend brightened by young Blues: While this weekend may have been yet another one best to forget for Blues fans after defeat in Sligo-despite going 1 up and leading until 15 minutes from time before losing 3-1-the start of this seasons eircom U-21 league did give us something to smile about as Jason Bowman,taking charge of his first competitive game as U-21 boss,led his charges to a very impressive 5-0 victory over the University of Limerick who were making their debut at this level. It was a hugely encouraging performance by the young Blues,not least on the goalscoring side of things with Aaron Moroney grabbing a hat-trick while Joey Watson scored 2. CLICK HERE to go to Tubbys site for a full match report

05-09-01 BTID goes WAP: BTID has just gone wap, meaning you can now get BTID on your mobile phone, provided you have the WAP service on your phone.At the moment the WAP site includes some BTID history, fixtures and results and of course the latest news story,we hope to add more to it in the near future but we hope to have it updated regularly and are currently seeking ways to have live scorlines broadcast on the site. if you have WAP access the address is http://www.wapdrive.com/btid if you do not have WAP access but want to have a look at the site go to http://www.gelon.net and type the above address into the wapalizer.

21-08-01 Fans to meet before Kilkenny game: Blues fans will meet in McGintey's Bar at the Ivory Lodge at 6pm on Friday to have a pint or two and get warmed up for the big game. It is hoped that this will become a regular meeting point for Blues fans before home games. It had been said that fans had nowhere to meet before home games and this affected the atmosphere,this gives fans the chance to meet up and talk football for an hour or so before the game and will hopefully go some way towards improving the atmosphere at the RSC. As said it is hoped this will become the regular meeting place before all games and all are welcome from 6pm onwards

21-08-01 Brutal Blues Hammered: Waterford United tonight turned in their worst display in Paul Power's 15 months as manager going down 4-0 to Limerick in Jackman Park. And truth be told it could have been worse but for Limericks poor finishing which let a hatfull of chances go begging. The Blues finished the game with 8 men after Wayne Fitzgerald and John Frost were dismissed within minutes of each other early in the first half and Eric Bradley picked up an injury after all three subs had been used. The Blues,inexplicably lining up in a 5-3-2 formation again after it clearly didn't work in Drogheda, fell behind early after Fennelly was adjudged to have felled an inrushing Limerick striker and referee Buttimer pointed to the spot for a penalty which White converted high to Fennelly's right. It took Limerick only ten minutes more to again breach a crumbling Blues defence to make it 2-0. The Blues did manage to carve out a chance or two with Brendan Rea coming closest after latching on to a free kick played accross the box but he hooked the ball over the bar when it seemed easier to score. The Blues only other attempt of note was a shot from Barry Wood, who had replaced Ian Barry after 5 mins, which went to the left of the goal. The half time whistle brought howls of disapproval from the sizeable travelling crowd and the Blues side which emerged for the second half showed 2 changes with Paul Scully and Muddy Waters replacing Kevin O'Brien and David Moore(played out of position again!)which saw the Blues switch to 4-4-2 and look somewhat more comfortable for 5 or 6 minutes at least including Wood and Bradley doing the "after you...no...no...after you" bit and waiting until it was too late to actually decide who'd take the ball and the chance was gone. Then it all started to fall apart(if it hadn't already)when Limerick went 3-0 up with a great free-kick from 22 yards. This was followed by Wayne Fitzgerald receiving his marching orders, he had been booked in the first half but this time received a straight red card although no-one seemed to see exactly what he did it was presumed that he kicked out at the Limerick player when the ball was gone. Just over a minute later Frosty's brakes seemed to fail as he came straight through the Limerick attacker and the ref had no hesitation in again reaching for his back pocket for the red card. At this stage it became like a training session for limerick who were able to keep the Blues running by knocking it around between themselves and with a bit better finishing could have added a few more goals. At this stage the disillusioned Blues fans were leftcheering each Limerick pass and calling for 2 more to be sent off to get the game abandonned!!! To compound matters for the Blues Eric Bradley having struggled with an injury for a period could go on no longer and had to come off leaving us 3 men short before McCarthy added a fourth for Limerick with an exquisite chip over Fennelly from over 25 yards. Obviously feeling a bit left out Limerick finished the game with ten men after one of their players picked up an injury with all their subs used up.All in all a night to be forgotten for the Blues. However it is to be hoped that this performance will not be quickly forgotten as lessons will have to be learned from it,the most glaringly obvious of which is that we must play 4-4-2, PP has tried 5-3-2 twice and it has failed twice so please please PP for the sake of the sanity of all Blues fans return to 4-4-2. In midfield we need to be much tighter and harder to break down. To this end new signing Mark Dempsey looks as though he can do a job but he'll need someone to do it with him Scully or Kevin Whittle seem the main choices. David Moore has talent but if played should be played in his position i.e. right side of midfield. And probably most importantly we must get back to doing the simple things well like passing the ball to a Blue shirt, not making Schoolboy errors and not messing around at the back. So please PP don't just put this down as a bad day at the office let's learn from it and improve
Blues: Fennelly,K.O'Brien,Frost,Breen(c),D.Whittle,Rea Dempsey,W.Fitzgerald ,Moore,Bradley,Barry.Subs Wood for Barry, Scully for Moore, Waters for O'Brien.Other Division 1 Results:
Athlone 0 Drogheda 0; Dublin City 2 Sligo 2; The Town 1 Cobh 2

11-08-01 Late Breen goal saves point: It was a case of role reversal this week as the Blues grabbed a stoppage time goal to claim a share of the spoils in United Park. Lining up in an unfamiliar 5-3-2 formation the Blues looked uncertain at the back from the start and it took the home side only 6 minutes to capitalize when David Whittle failed to clear and Anto Reilly curled the ball around Fennelly to finish well from the left hand side of the box. The Blues first chance of the game came from a Paul Cashin corner and ended up in the net from a David Breen header after a mistake by the Drogheda ‘keeper. The Blues were lucky to stay level when Breen cleared off the line but in reality he knew very little about it while at the other end Ian Barry went close with a curling shot from 20 yards and Bradley rifled one off the crossbar from a similar distance. However the same shaky Blues emerged for the second half and having survived a few early scares finally fell behind when the defence were caught flat-footed and Fennelly could only parry the attackers chip into the path of the inrushing Reilly. The Blues later introduced Barry Wood and Paul Leahy in place of the hard working Ian Barry and David Moore, who had looked out of place in the middle of midfield and not nearly as comfortable as he looked pre-season in his natural position wide on the right, and switched to a 4-4-2 formation which helped them to look much better. As the Blues pushed on in search of the equalizer they saw another effort come back off the crossbar before Barry Wood was taken down by the home keeper for what looked like a penalty but the ref judged the offence to have taken place outside the box much to the annoyance of the players which saw Brendan Rea booked for his protests. However as the game moved into stoppage time added for a late injury to a Drogheda player the ball fell to David Breen just outside the area and his shot, with the help of a deflection, found it’s way into the Drogheda net to salvage an unlikely but invaluable point for the Blues who nearly nicked it in the last minute with a Paul Cashin shot but that would have been harsh on the home side who deserved to get something from the performance. Hopefully having seen this game PP will return to a flat back four for the next game (against Limerick) as we certainly never looked comfortable with 3 at the back and the wing backs were too defensively minded to work in that formation causing us to be overrun in midfield too often especially in the first half, so PP it’s decision time having tried playing all three you must now make a choice as to which of the centre backs will be your first choice and try to return to the days when we had the first divisions best defensive record.
Blues: Fennelly,K.O'Brien,Frost,Breen(c),D.Whittle,Rea Cashin,W.Fitzgerald ,Moore,Bradley,Barry.Subs Wood for Barry, Leahy for Moore.Other Division 1 Fixtures:
Saturday:Finn Harps Vs.Sligo; The Town Vs. Dublin City
Sunday:Limerick FC Vs. Athlone

11-08-01 Blues go down in thriller: An injury time goal by player manager Jonathan Speake won all three points for Finn Harps in the opening game of the first division season at the RSC. Harps took the lead in the first half when a ball from the left of the box was inexplicably dummied by Frosty and ran straight into the path of the on rushing Harps player who finished cooly-at the time it was no more than Harps deserved having missed an open goal minutes earlier again after a low ball across the box from the left. The Blues were back on level terms 7 minutes later through Kevin Whittle and a generous linesman who kept his flag down allowed Bradley to race clear from the half way line and score 10 minutes later to give the Blues the lead. However the lead was to be short-lived as Finn Harps equalled things up again 3 minutes before the break. And three minutes after the interval they were back in front again when Banner curled a shot into the Blues goal from 20 yards. It took the Blues until the 76th minute to get an equaliser that their pressure deserved when Paul Cashin delivered a corner low at the second attempt and after a bit of bouncing around David Breen applied the finish. Both Joe Watson and David Moore missed chances to give the Blues the lead and in injury time Alan O'Brien who was suffering from an injury was slow to pick up a ball from David Moore which was then intercepted before the Harps man played his boss through who eluded the chasing Kevin O'Brien to fire past Fennelly. All in all the Blues didn't look great but their battling nearly won them a point but thy will certainly need to improve especially in midfield where at times they lacked a real leader although when we got hold of it and knocked it about we did look like we could cause them problems. Credit must go to Wayne Fitzgerald and also Alan O'Brien. Although Alan was involved in the mistake leading the deciding goal they added a bit of much needed spark to the midfield and Alan when he was introduced looked much more comfortable than Kevin O'Brien who had started on the right side of midfield.
Blues: Fennelly,Leahy,Frost,Breen(c),D.Whittle,Cashin,K.Whittle,Moore,K.O'Brien,Bradley,T.Fitzgerald.Subs W.Fitzgerald for K.Whittle, Watson for T.Fitzgerald, A.O'Brien for Leahy
Other Division 1 Results:Sligo 1 The Town 1
Cobh 0 Drogheda 1
Monday:Dublin City V Limerick

09-08-01 Frosty available for opener: The Blues have received a boost in advance of the season opener against Finn Harps at the RSC on Saturday night. Regular left back John Frost was to have served a suspension carried over from last season but the league decided that clubs could have players suspensions quashed by paying £100 and the Blues have taken up the offer. The money has also been payed for Kevin and David Whittle and Paul Scully who will now start the season with zero disciplinary points. However as the offer applies only to bans imposed as a result of the player reaching 8 points the Blues will still be without Brendan Rea for the Harps match as his suspension is as a result of a red card. For a full list of those who must serve suspensions and those let off CLICK HERE to go to eircom League Online

07-08-01 Blues lose out on Hunt: The Blues have missed out on signing one of Waterford's most promising youngsters of recent times as Noel Hunt has decided to sign for Shamrock Rovers where he will join up with fellow Waterford youngster Shane Robinson. Blues officials are said to be very disappointed at his decision and the fact that they weren't given the opportunity to counter Rovers offer to the youngster. It was widely reported that Richardson had been impressed with Hunt in the pre-season friendly against Rovers and now he has acted on the in the most emphatic way.

02-08-01 Fitzgerald sees off Llanelli: After slipping up against Darlington Waterford United got back to winning ways tonight against Welsh side Llanelli in Annestown. The Blues won the game 3-2 with Carrick youngster Thomas Fitzgerald grabbing all 3 goals. There was more good news for Blues fans in that both David Breen and Paul Leahy made their returns from injury tonight and this can only be good news as the start of the season approaches. Full details of game to follow.