Waterford FC Power into FAI Men's Cup Semi-Finals

Waterford FC are back in the last four of the Club Orange FAI Men's Cup for the first time since 2022, and they got there with a second-half surge that Sligo Rovers simply couldn’t live with at the RSC.

It wasn’t pretty early on. It didn’t need to be.

Graham Coughlan’s side were far from their slick best in a scrappy first half, but they still went in ahead thanks to the sharp instincts of Pádraig Amond. After the interval, though, Waterford tore into Sligo. Tommy Lonergan struck, an Ollie Denham own goal followed, and the tie was over long before the final whistle in front of a satisfied home crowd.

Amond settles the nerves

Waterford landed the first blow inside eight minutes. Conan Noonan hooked a clever ball to the back post, where Lonergan nodded it back across goal. Amond met it with a header that Sam Sargeant managed to block, but Sligo never cleared their lines.

The loose ball broke to Evan McLaughlin on the edge of the box. One touch, a slide-rule pass back into Amond’s path, and the veteran forward did the rest, drilling a right-footed finish from close range. Early jitters in the stands disappeared in an instant.

Then came a scare.

On 13 minutes, Benny Couto almost undid that good work with a loose pass straight to Luke Pearce. The Sligo striker burst clear, but Stephen McMullan stood tall and smothered the chance at his feet. It was a big save, and it kept Waterford in control of the scoreboard if not the tempo.

McLaughlin fizzed one over from the edge of the area as Waterford tried to reassert themselves, but Sligo slowly grew into the contest. By the 39th minute, they had their best opening of the half: Seb Quirk took a pass from Gareth McElroy and whipped in a dangerous cross, only for Archie Meekison to completely miss his connection in front of goal.

Just before the break, Waterford almost doubled their lead and might have changed the tone of the night even earlier. Jorgen Voilas slipped Amond in, 16 yards out, and the striker unleashed a thunderous effort that looked destined for the net. Sligo captain Carl McHugh threw himself back to nod it off the line, a superb goal-line clearance that kept his side alive at half-time.

Blues cut loose after the restart

Whatever Coughlan said in the dressing room worked. Waterford came out with a different edge, quicker in the press, sharper in the final third. The pressure quickly told.

Five minutes into the second half, Couto released Noonan down the left. Noonan’s cross picked out Voilas at the back post and the wing-back headed the ball down into the danger area. Lonergan pounced, meeting it with a crisp right-footed strike from 10 yards that flew past Sargeant. 2-0, and the RSC finally relaxed.

Sligo wobbled. Waterford went for the throat.

On 59 minutes, the third goal arrived and it summed up the shift in momentum. Noah Mawene slipped McLaughlin down the left flank and the winger drove a vicious ball across the face of goal. Denham, under pressure and facing his own net, could only turn it past Sargeant. An own goal, and with it, any realistic Sligo hope vanished.

Waterford smelled blood. Three minutes later, they almost had a fourth. Couto laid the ball back to McLaughlin on the edge of the box and he unleashed a powerful left-footed strike that Sargeant did brilliantly to tip over. It was now one-way traffic.

Sligo’s best moment after the break came on 71 minutes. Substitute Alex Nolan cut across the edge of the area and let fly with his left foot, his effort skimming just wide of McMullan’s left-hand post. It was as close as they came to spoiling the home side’s clean sheet.

By then, Coughlan was already managing minutes. Changes rolled in during the closing stages — Romeo Amedu, Dean Heeney, Connor Ashton and others all seeing action — with the outcome long decided and the semi-final place secure.

Waterford’s night ended with control, confidence and a clear message: this is a side that can grind through a poor half, then rip a game open when it matters. With a semi-final on the horizon, the question now is simple — how far can they ride this momentum?