Galway United 1

Waterford FC  0

A small section of the community might have been celebrating the ‘Twelfth’ up in parts of the North on Friday, but over in the West of Ireland, Galway United fans were hailing a new Patrick’s Day.

Patrick Hickey was marching to the beat of his own drum in Eamonn Deacy Park, putting in a glorious performance of his own as he sashayed through the Waterford ranks time and again to see Galway United lodge another psychological blow over their visitors and move United right back into the conversation about a top-three finish.

The man from the Windy City scored the only goal of the game to blow away the Waterford challenge once again, stretching United’s unbeaten run over their fellow promoted side to seven games, a run of five wins and two draws.

Hickey was everywhere on Friday night, as brilliant in defence as he was in attack. Time and again he was on hand to break up a Waterford attack, heading clear here, timing a tackle to perfection there; and of course, he did the business at the other end as well, finding the net, hitting the post with a header, forcing a couple of saves from Sam Sergeant, as the home side did yet another number on their fellow promoted side.

The last time The Blues were feeling anything but when facing United was back at the end of the 2022 season, when they hammered the Tribesmen 3-0 in the First Division promotion final, before losing 1-0 to UCD in the play-off final.

That one hurt, but the pain has all been Waterford’s in the seven meetings between the sides since as United just look to have the psychological edge on a team that bounced back from that play-off defeat two years ago to get the job done at the second time of asking last year to join United in winning promotion.

United needed this win, having gone into the game on the back of a run of just four points from their previous five outings, and with Sligo Rovers beating Bohs up in Dalymount Park, United are firmly planted right in the middle of the battle for the top three with about a third of the season left along with Waterford and the two Rovers, Shamrock and Sligo.

Pictured: Galway United’s Patrick Hickey salutes the crowd after scoring Galway United’s goal in Friday night’s Premier Division win over Waterford FC at Eamonn Deacy Park. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.