IN THIS twice postponed FAI Cup first round tie at Waterford Regional Sports Centre last night, First Division Waterford United exacted sweet, revenge from Galway United, who had eliminated them from the competition at the same stage last season.

This was a hard fought game which remained in the balance until the final whistle was blown by Cork referee, Aidan O'Regan to relieve the Waterford supporters, to whom every minute seemed like an hour as the visitors gamely tried to force a draw and a replay.

The home side opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Colin Fanning was taken down by Den is Rogers in the penalty area and Kevin Kelly gave goalkeeper Joey Power no chance with the spot kick.

Honours were about even and there were no further scores until seven minutes' from half time when Mike Quirke sent the ball via Donnie Farragher to Jumbo Brennan, who forced home the ball from close range for the equaliser.

Five minutes later came the best goal of the game when Donnie Farragher crossed, from the left and Ronan Killian, although tightly marked flicked the ball to the net to put Galway into the lead.

Waterford United fought back and in the 56th minute Kevin Kelly put them back into contention with an angled shot from the edge of the area - a fine solo effort.

Bunt the home side weren't finished yet and in the 69th minute Joe Lawless and James Carthy combined to give Brian Barry, who had come on as a substitute only minutes earlier, the ball to score what proved to be the winner.