Romeo ruins Athlone Town's promotion hopes
SSE Airtricity Fist Division promotion play-off second leg
Waterford 3 Athlone Town 1 (Waterford win 4-2 on aggregate)
Super sub Romeo Akachukwu scored a hat-trick in the space of half an hour as Waterford ended Athlone Town's promotion hopes at the RSC this afternoon (Saturday).
The sides played out a 1-1 draw in Athlone last Tuesday night and after Akachukwu's 64th-minute goal gave Waterford the lead in the second leg, Athlone equalised through a penalty from Franz Pierrot. The Athlone striker converted from the spot after he was brought down himself by Derik Osede.
With some 20 minutes to go, home fans were surely feeling the tension at this stage, but Akachukwu eased their nerves with his second goal in the 78th minute. Ronan Coughlan was involved in setting up both of those goals.
Ireland U17 international Akachukwu completed his hat-trick close to the end as Keith Long's side claimed a 3-1 victory.
The Blues will now meet Cobh Ramblers in the First Division promotion final. The winner of that game will then face the team which finishes second last in the Premier Division to decide who will play in the top flight next season.
Waterford FC: Sam Sargeant; Darragh Power, Ryan Burke, Rowan McDonald, Barry Baggley, Connor Parsons, Derik Osede, Ronan Coughlan, Roland Idowu, Giles Philips, Dean McMenamy. Subs: Romeo Akachukwu for McMenamy (61 mins); Niall O’Keeffe for McDonald (75); Killian Cantwell for Osede (87).
Athlone Town: Enda Minogue; German Fuentes Rodriguez, Jack Kavanagh, Noah Van Geenen, Daniel McKenna, Patrick Hickey, Aaron Connolly, Franz Pierrot, Valerii Dolia, Oisin Duffy, Matthew Baker. Subs: Josh McGlone for Kavanagh (8 mims); Dylan Gavin for McGlone (61); Shane Forbes for Dolia (89), Matthew Leal for Baker (89
Referee: Gavin Colfer.