Sligo Rovers' winless run now stretches to six games after Christie Pattison's 46th minute strike handed Waterford a first win in four with a 1-0 victory at the Showgrounds.
The game almost did not go ahead after referee Gavin Colfer and his team deemed the goalmouth at the railway end of the ground unfit for play. The officials ordered the Sligo ground staff to remove the offending patch of astro turf, replacing it with sand, despite the surface being passed as safe in recent games.
After a 15-minute delay to kick-off in order to get the ground up to standard, a scrappy opening period ensued.
Max Mata nodded a Reece Hutchinson cross wide after five minutes, while both Ben McCormack and Connor Parsons skied respective efforts at the opposite end.
The game's first real chance arrived on 20 minutes when Pattisson found the roaming Parsons in space. The wide man pulled a decent save out of Ed McGinty at the goalkeeper's near post.
A number of injuries to the Sligo squad meant the Connacht men were only able to name one experienced first-team player on their bench.
It was the hosts who ended the opening 45 the stronger. Stefan Radosavljevic and Connor Malley going close to an opener. While Grant Horton managed to sweep Mata's effort off the visitor's goal-line after both Malley and Ellis Chapman had both threatened in the build up.
The second half was just seconds old when Waterford took hold of this encounter. Pattison crashing a thundering right-footed half-volley beyond McGinty after Rowan McDonald's cross found the wide-man in space.
Keith Long's charges had only won once since Sligo beat them at the RSC back in March and following chances for Rovers' Mata and Charlie Wiggett, the Munster men should have settled this tie with seven to go. Former Sligo striker Padraig Amond fired straight at McGinty, however.
Sligo Rovers: Ed McGinty; Charlie Wiggett, Ollie Denham, Ellis Chapman (Owen Elding 71); JR Wilson, Reece Hutchinson; Niall Morahan, Connor Malley; Rein Smit, Max Mata, Stefan Radosavljevic (Fabrice Hartmann 71).
Waterford: Sam Sargeant; Darragh Power, Grant Horton, Kacper Radkowski, Darragh Leahy; Dean McMenamy (Niall O'Keefe 75), Ben McCormack (Connor Evans 84), Rowan McDonald; Christie Pattison (Maleace Asamoah 72), Connor Parsons; Padraig Amond.
Referee: Gavin Colfer.
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