Waterford moved from off the bottom spot of the table with a win over Dundalk which told more of Dundalk failure to convert ample possession into chance compared to Waterford clinical and ruthless finishing. A brace from John Martin and a Shane Griffin goal saw the blues take the three points back to the RSC in what was Marc Bircham’s first win in charge of Waterford and only their second of the season overall. Patrick Hoban’s penalty was the only highlight of what was a difficult night for the Lilywhites which left more questions to be answered at Oriel Park.

Jesus Perez comes on.

McEleney comes off for the final moments of the game.

Kavanagh comes on for the last five minutes.

Griffin got the all-important lead goal and he will be happy with his performance.

Molloy comes on for the last ten minutes.

Prince comes off after an impressive performance up front.

And that would you have to say is that! John Martin with his second goal of the evening heading past Abibi from close range. This will be a massive win for Waterford.

Murray comes on to bring a more attacking poise to the game.

Sloggett comes off

Fantastic effort from McEleney and an even better save from Brian Murphy to deny him, Dundalk earn a corner.

Daniel Kelly comes into the game.

Ole Midtskogen comes off.

And Waterford take the lead, a break down the right sees the ball fall to Griffin and he turns and shoots in the area to score with ease.

Hoban just a fraction offside and he does slot the ball in the net but it does not count.

Hoban breaks free and cuts into his left foot but he curls his effort over for a corner.

Quiet opening here with not much to report, lots of niggling fouls as both teams try to get into a rhythm.

We are back underway at Oriel Park, Waterford on the early attack.

Despite being in complete control for large periods of the game, Dundalk find themselves all square at the back thanks to John Martin's cool finish.

It's all level here in Oriel Park, a fantastic ball to Martin on the edge of the area and he slots it calmly under the onrushing Abibi.

A lot of joy for Dundalk since the break, they are still pushing for a second and are having plenty of the ball, however, the final touch in the area is just letting them down so far. This game is for the taking if they want it.

For the foul leading to the penalty, Evans is yellow carded.

Off the butt of the post and in! Dundalk opens the scoring thanks to Patrick Hoban.

PENALTY DUNDALK! Ole Mistskogen is manhandled in the area and the referee points to the spot.

Duffy hits a low effort that is blocked off the defenders, Dundalk starting to press and ask questions of Waterford's defence right now.

For a foul on Hoban, Griffin is the first player in the book.

Clever lay off from Patrick Hoban to Greg Sloggett who lets one fly from the edge of the area, it goes over the bar but with a bit more of direction it could have caused Murphy some issues.

Prince Mustwunguma charges down on goal and beats the attention of Dummingan however he clashes with Abibi and it's a free-kick to Dundalk.

There has been a change to the lineup, David McMillan is out of the starting lineup and is replaced by Ole Erik Midtskogen, the Norwegian is playing up front with Patrick Hoban.

We are underway at Oriel Park, Waterford kick off us off and will be shooting towards the 'Carrick Road' end of Oriel Park.

Waterford has faced Dundalk in three promotion/relegation playoffs in the Premier Division. The questionable signing of Linfield amateur Jeff McNamara prematch saw him score a brace in the final match while in 2006 a dramatic night in the RSC saw Trevor Vaughan score the winner in a game where Dundalk thought they had gained promotion and in 2012 when a brace from Michael Rafter sealed the win for Dundalk which paved the way for a certain Stephen Kenny to become manager of Dundalk in 2013.

In the twenty-three matches in all competitions since then Waterford have won three of them all at the RSC with Dundalk shading the head to heads with 17 wins

It's 6,722 and over eighteen years since Waterford last came to Oriel Park and won. That was back in January 2003 when Daryl Murphy who is on the club's books scored the only goal in the 81st minute.

And another first for Dundalk: Random and some would say fairly useless fact but this is Dundalk’s first time in their history playing a competitive game on June 11th.

Tonight’s referee is a Roscommon man by the name of John McLoughlin. He may make a wish as he has never refereed a Dundalk game before but his last Premier Division game was in Waterford when he took charge of the Blues’ 1-0 defeat at home to Derry City on May 21st.

Conditions here in Oriel are absolutely perfect for football. A balmy summers evening of 18 degrees but as is always the case the stand can be cold! But all in all we are just awaiting the teams to come out to warm up.

Teams news from Oriel Park is that Sonni Nattestad has returned from injury in place of the injured Chris Shields for just his 3rd league appearance for Dundalk. Cameron Dummigan returns from suspension in place of Raivis Jurkovskis who has been on international duty and will not feature in tonights squad.

Good evening and you are very welcome from Oriel Park for tonights match between Dundalk and Waterford. New managers at the helm with Jim Magilton now instilled as the new boss at Oriel and Marc Bircham at Waterford means that both sides and manager are looking to make an impression with one hundred fans allowed into the home of football for the first time since last year.