Waterford V Kerry - pick of games in opening round of Ladies NFL.

Tesco during the week were nominated as the Sponsors of this year’s Ladies Football National League Campaign.

When they looked at the fixtures for the opening round of this years campaign which takes place this weekend they must have been somewhat pleasantly surprized.

For much of the 1980’s and 1990’s Kerry and then Waterford were the king pins or should that be queen pins of Ladies Football.

Between the two of them they won fifteen All-Ireland Finals between 1982 and 1998, and while some may argue that the two have slipped back a little since them days, it’s fair to say that both sides are still able on a given day able to mix it with the best.

If both have slipped back somewhat is for others to decide. Most would like to argue that maybe what has happened is that others have caught up with the standards that Kerry and Waterford set in the past and this is only good for the game.

Cork right now are without doubt the best team in the country and it should be the aim of every other county to reach the standard that they are setting.

Apart from those already mentioned the likes of Monaghan, Dublin, Tyrone, Mayo, Armagh, Galway, Laois and Meath have tasted what it is like to be in action on All-Ireland or National League finals day in Ladies Football. The more team that do sample a taste of these days then the better it is for the game.

When the fixtures for this years National League Campaign were announced late last year, at a quick glance, while Monaghan and Cork may be the stand out fixture in Division one, the real stand out fixture was that of Waterford against Kerry in Division two.

How could it be any other way, the beaten senior finalist from 2012 against the beaten intermediate finalist from 2012.

The Allianz National Football league campaign gets underway on Saturday evening with some fan fare at Croke Park when Dublin and Cork do battle.

The Old Parish Club Grounds in West Waterford may be a long way away from Croke Park but when the players of Waterford and Kerry take to the field sometime presumably after 1-30pm on Sunday, their game will be every bit as important as to what will be fought out in Croke Park some hours earlier. In fact what will be played out in Old Parish might be a much better battle.

When the sides clashed last year, the two sides fought out a terrific high scoring game at Castle-Island which the home side won 3-16 to 5-9.

Waterford may have played in the championship at a grade lower than the Kingdom ladies last year, but on that day, the visitors proved to be the better of the two sides and were unlucky not to have made the journey home with a brace of points in the bag and would have but for a late Deirdre Corridan goal.

Kerry on the day may have been without some of their regulars but so were Waterford, and as we all know the game was still fifteen against fifteen as will this latest battle.

Kerry began that game in fine fettle and raced into an 0-5 to 0-1 advantage after just ten minutes and went even further in front with efforts from Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh and Patrice Dennehy.

One thing you can never accuse Waterford of doing is giving up without a battle. Waterford came back into the game with a Mairead Wall goal and when corner forward Hanna Landers added a brace of goals shortly afterwards, Waterford’s slow start was forgotten about as Waterford held a 3-3 to 0-7 lead.

Kerry came back and with three minutes to play the sides were all square but Waterford went in leading 4-5 to 0-12 after Michelle McGrath added a fourth goal for the Déise girls.

Kerry began the second half missing a penalty as Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh but the ball wide of Ciara Kearney’s upright but did manage to get the ball in the net shortly afterwards from a Mary O’Keeffe effort.

With the sides all square (1-15 to 4-6) Linda Wall added a fifth Waterford goal and it was beginning to look as if it could be Waterford’s day, but a Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh fisted effort went to the net to bring Kerry back into contention.

Kerry however refused to throw in the towel that day and Corridan’s late goal gave them the points on offer.

Some of the Kerry players that will feature at Old Parish will need no introduction to supports of Ladies Football. Edel Murphy, Bernie Breen, Lorraine Scanlon, Louise Galvin, Sarah Houlihan, Patrice Dennehy, Deirdre Corridan and the deadly Louise Ni Mhuircheartaigh are all fine players.

While Kerry have some fine players, the same could also be said of Waterford.

In the past the likes of Olivia Condon, the O’Ryan twins, June Whyte, Marie Crotty, Catriona Casey and Áine Wall were all players that set the game alight.

In the present era, the Wall sisters Mairead, Linda and Aileen, Aoife Landers, Nora Dunphy, Grainne Enright, Grainne Kenneally, Elaine Power, Michelle Ryan, Shone Curran and Hannah Landers are every bit if not as good as those that wore the white and blue shirt in the years before them.

Waterford head into this game on somewhat a high after their win over Tipperary in the Jim Kennedy Cup at Bansha, last weekend. Many of the players that have been mentioned above are likely to figure against the Kingdom.

Manager Pat O’Brien and his selectors have added to last years panel which is only good for the game and they may opt to give members of the panel that did not feature in the latter stages of last years championship the opportunity to show them exactly what they can do.

With little else on Gaelic Games wise within the county this weekend, and a person wants to wet their apatite for the year ahead, they could do a lot worse than to make their way to Old Parish this Sunday afternoon.

Admission to the game is just €5 with students and Old Age Pensioners admitted for €3 and under 16’s admitted free of charge.

For those that may like to attend the game but don’t know where the field is, it’s relatively easy to find. Heading out of Dungarvan turn left at Ring Cross. At the next ‘V’ junction take turn right (for Ardmore) and continue to John Pauls Bar (on the right) where you turn left and the field is down the road a short distance on the right.