SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division | Round 20 | Friday, 12 June 2026 RSC, Waterford | Referee: Declan Toland
Pádraig Amond. Thirty-seven years old. Hat-trick. At the RSC. In a relegation battle. In front of his own fans.
You could not write it.
Waterford had been winless going into Friday. Bottom of the Premier Division. Two points from five games. A run of results so bad it was starting to look like the kind of season that ends in the play-offs at best. Then Amond decided he had seen enough and scored three goals against the team directly above them in the table.
Waterford 4-0 Sligo Rovers. The gap between them has been cut to five points. The crowd at the RSC celebrated like they had won the league. This is what the bottom of a table does to supporters — a 4-0 on a Friday afternoon in June feels like everything.
Sligo started the better side, actually. Won a couple of early corners. Pressed high. Looked like a team who knew a win here would put daylight between them and real trouble. Then Waterford settled and started creating. On six minutes, Luke Heeney drove down the right and found Benny Couto — Sam Sargeant in the Sligo goal made a fine save from the header. Then Heeney was involved again on 11 minutes, linking with Dean McMenamy before a deflected effort went behind. Heeney went down in the area too. Referee Toland waved it away.
The goal came in the 26th minute. Will Johnson won possession in midfield, showed the intelligence that has made him one of the better players in this squad across the season, and found Couto. The ball spread to Jordan Houston on the right. Houston’s delivery was precise. Amond arrived and finished clinically. No drama. Just a striker doing what he has done for 15 years — being in the right place at the right time.
One-nil. The RSC found its voice.
The second half was a different match entirely. Waterford pushed and created and Amond added his second. Then his third. The crowd were on their feet for the hat-trick goal. Three for Amond at 37. The old man still has it. The RSC gave him a proper reception.
The fourth came too — Kevin Long getting in on the act to complete the scoring. Four-nil. Sligo had no answers. Ryan O’Kane had given them hope in recent weeks with the only bright spot of their recent Bohemians defeat, but on Friday the visiting squad offered very little in response to the wave of Waterford momentum that built through the second half.
Graham Coughlan’s side had drawn 3-3 against Drogheda in their previous outing — Lonergan, Long and Couto all scoring that day, showing there were goals in the squad. The issue has been conceding. On Friday, Sligo did not score. Clean sheet for Waterford. The RSC crowd could barely believe the final scoreline.
Amond’s story is the one to tell. He has been around Irish football for years — Newport County, Morecambe, Hartlepool, a career built on professionalism and goals in places others have not fancied going. At Waterford now in the twilight, still doing it. Three goals against a direct rival in a game that matters enormously for his club’s future in the top flight. That performance will be discussed in this city for months.
For Sligo, it is a brutal result. They came in ninth on four points. They leave tenth after Waterford move past them in the table on goal difference. The Bit O’Reds suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Bohemians before this. Two bad results in a row and the pressure on the Showgrounds is building.
Both clubs have a long way to go before anyone is safe or relegated. But Friday afternoon at the RSC changed the mood dramatically for one side and darkened it significantly for the other.
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Waterford 4-0 Sligo Rovers SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division, Round 20 | Friday, 12 June 2026 RSC, Waterford | Referee: Declan Toland
Goals: Pádraig Amond 26′, Amond (2nd), Amond (hat-trick), Kevin Long Key: Will Johnson (assist), Jordan Houston (assist for first goal)
Waterford: GK; defenders; Will Johnson, Dean McMenamy, Luke Heeney; Benny Couto, Kevin Long, Pádraig Amond; Jordan Houston
Sligo Rovers: Sam Sargeant; defenders; Ryan O’Kane; forwards
Standings: Sligo Rovers 9th — 4 pts | Waterford 10th — 5 pts | Gap: 5 points | Half-time: 1-0
