Heart-break in Aughrim but Joy in Birr on Historic Day

Extra time was needed by Wicklow in this game to see them through to the second round of the All-Ireland Football qualifiers, on Saturday last despite the fact that they were playing against a Waterford team who played much of the original seventy minutes of the game with a man short after Gary Hurney was dismissed on a straight red card some ten minutes from the break.

The Déise Captain received his marching orders from the Co Kerry referee but even with a numerical disadvantage Waterford for much of the game proved to be the better of the sides, and will be asking themselves, how they returned home empty handed.

Waterford lead by three points at the break 0-7 to 0-4 and were full value for the lead. However, on the resumption, Waterford were slow to settle and it was in this time that much of the damage was done in so far as Waterford were concerned.

Waterford opened this game in fine fettle. Playing with the aid of a strong breeze at their backs, they attacked the Wicklow goal at every opportunity. Gary Hurney and younger brother Patrick gave Waterford an early lead only for John McGrath to pull a point back.

Further points from Patrick Hurney and then Mark Ferncombe had Waterford leading by three but Seanie Furlong from a free was able to pull one back for the home side to leave them trailing 0-4 to 0-2 at the end of the first quarter.

Another free, this time from Tony Hannon had just one between the sides, but a delightful Patrick Hurney point from distance soon had two between the sides once again.

It was shortly after this that Gary Hurney was dismissed for the second time this year, and the signs were not looking good for Waterford.

However, playing with a man down, as is often the case, Waterford took the game to Wicklow and points from Paul Whyte from a free and then Patrick Hurney had four between the sides, only for Tony Hannon to reduce the lead to three shortly before the half time whistle.

The Wicklow management team at the break made changes and they made an immediate impact. Darren Hayden hit an early point for Wicklow and Waterford’s half time lead was soon wiped out after John McGrath and Joey Kelly kicked points to level matters.

Conor McGraynor obviously felt hard done by, not starting and showed the selectors that they could and should in his eyes have started him, when six minutes after the re-start he kicked the games only goal to give Wicklow the lead for the first time in the game.

The pressure was now on Waterford and they responded well. Points from Paul Whyte, Shane Briggs and JJ Hutchinson followed to level matters once more, and despite playing with a man down Waterford were now looking like a side that could well be advancing to the second round draw.

With just over ten minutes to play, John McGrath edged Wicklow back in front when he pointed a ’45, but Waterford refused to lie down and roll over.

Mark Ferncombe levelled matters and when Paul Whyte put over a ’45 Waterford, despite the odds were in front and looking good for their lead.

But time still remained, and when the fourth official indicated that there would be three extra minutes to play, it could not pass quick enough for Waterford.

In the last attack of the game, disaster struck for Waterford. Alan Byrne, the free man after Gary Hurney’s dismissal was able to break forward and kicked the score that ensured that another twenty minutes were needed to try and find a team to go into the bowl for the second round draw.

McGrath’s score for Wicklow was a hammer blow to Waterford. John Owens men had one leg in the second round draw and suddenly they had to wait.

In the two ten minute periods of added time, Waterford never got going. Wicklow has they had done in the original seventy minutes played against the win in the first half of extra time, but faired much better than they did in ordinary time.

Conor McGraynor hit an early point for the ‘Garden County’ side only for Tony Grey to respond for Waterford. This was as good as it got however for Waterford.

Seanie Furlong, Joey Kelly, Nicky Mernagh and Joey Kelly all raised white flags for Wicklow which gave them a 1-14 to 0-13 lead, but before the change of ends Patrick Hurney was able to pull one back for Waterford.

In the second half, Wicklow continued to dominate and showed why the bookies considered them favourites for this game. Points from Conor McGraynor, Niall Gaffney and James Stafford were all hit by the home side in the second ten minute period of extra time to extend their lead to six, but at the very end Mark Ferncombe  pulled one back for Waterford which proved to be but a mere gloss score on the score board.

The final score after extra time – Wicklow 1-17 Waterford 0-15.

Wicklow: J Flynn; A Byrne, A McLoughlin, S Kelly; D Hayden, S Byrne, D Healy; J Stafford, P Burke; J McGrath, D O’Sullivan, R Finn; A O’Malley, S Furlong, T Hannon. Subs: C McGraynor for A O’Malley, J Kelly for T Hannon, N Mernagh for P Burke, N Gaffney for D Hayden, D Woods for J McGrath, P Dalton for D Healy.

Scorers: C McGraynor 1-2, J McGrath (1 45), J Kelly 0-3 each, S Furlong 0-2 (1f), T Hannon 0-2 (1f), A Byrne, D Hayden, N Mernagh, N Gaffney, J Stafford 0-1 each.

Waterford: S Enright; M O’Gorman, T O’Gorman, K Connery; T Grey, S Briggs, W Hennessy; S Dempsey, P Hurney; A Doyle, G Hurney, JJ Hutchinson; M Ferncombe, P Whyte, L O Lionáin. Subs: C McGrath for L Ó Lionáin, Tadgh Ó hUallacháin for Hutchinson, J Veale for extra time (Gary Hurney sent off), E Walsh for Brigg, A Brophy for P Hurney.

Scorers for Waterford: P Hurney 0-5, M Ferncombe, P Whyte (2fs, 1 45) 0-3 each, G Hurney, JJ Hutchinson, T Grey, S Briggs 0-1 each.

Referee: P O’Sullivan (Kerry)

Meanwhile it was not all disappointment for Waterford football over the weekend, where some history was made.

Waterford’s under 14 Ladies Footballers captured the All-Ireland ‘B’ final beating Cavan in Birr on a 1-7 to 1-5 scoreline.

Triplets Aoife, Emma, and Katie Murray from the Comeragh Rangers club in Rathgormack all started for Waterford and so became the first set of triplets to win All-Ireland honours on the same day.

Katie kicked Waterford’s only goal of the game and also finished as the sides leading scorer finishing with a tally of 1-2 out of 1-7. While there was Heroines all round for Waterford, apart from the Murray triplets and their piece of history on the day it will be Ciara Hurley who will attract a lot of the headlines as she kicked some late points to seal the win the win for Waterford.

WATERFORD: Caoimhe Veale; Rebecca Casey, Niamh Power, Edwina Curran; Emma Murray, Megan Dunford, Laura Casey; Sinead Flynn, Kate McGrath; Denise O’Connor, Ciara Hurley, Katie Murray; Emma Power, Aoife Murray, Caragh McCarthy. Subs: Katie Duggan O’Sullivan for Edwina Curran, Laura Cusack for Emma Power. Rest of the Waterford panel: Amy Fraher, Catherine Murray, Carrie O’Keeffe, Roisin Curran, Kelly Tutty, Grace Heffernan, Kaiesha Tobin, Hannah Power, Sarah Landers, Laiden Dunlea, Chloe Fennell, Clodagh Curran, Sharon Williams, Jessica Fahey.

Scorers: K Murray 1-2, C Hurley 0-3 (1f), E Power (pen), C McCarthy 0-1 each.

CAVAN: A Wharton; C Fitzpatrick, G McLoughlin, E O’Reilly; E Kelly, S Pierson, C Dent; C Dolan, C O’Reilly; K Fitzpatrick, L Keogan, G Smith; A O’Reilly, L Kiernan, K Doonan. Subs: R Brady for K Fitzpatrick, R O’Reilly for Doonan, K Fitzpatrick for Keogan.

Scorers for Cavan: G Smith 1-2 (0-1f), L Keogan 0-2 (1f), L Kiernan 0-1.

Referee: G McMahon (Dublin).