In Pictures: Waterford 3 - 1 Athlone Town

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Liam Coughlan reports from the RSC

Ireland underage international Romeo Akachuckwu scored a hat-trick for Waterford to seal their place in the First Division promotion play-off final next weekend.

The substitute was brought on with just over half an hour to play and he made a telling impact. 

With their tie against Athlone Town level from Tuesday night’s first-leg, the midfielder broke the second-leg deadlock with a fine finish in the 64th minute. 

But Athlone were handed a lifeline moments later when Frantz Pierrot scored a penalty.

But that parity did not last long as Akachuckwu once again combined with Coughlan to score, rolling the ball home past Minogue on the break. 

And with Athlone pushing bodies forward, they were caught again on the counter-attack with Akachuckwu scoring his third to take home the match ball - and secure a 4-2 aggregate win. 

The Blues will face Munster rivals Cobh Ramblers in the final, scheduled to take place at Turner’s Cross next Saturday. 

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