Hectic weekend for G.A.A. Supporters in the Déise

The chances are that if you are reading this you have an interest in the G.A.A. in Waterford and if not in Waterford in particular, you have an interest in the G.A.A. in general.

We might be still in early March, but this coming weekend for the G.A.A. in Waterford promises to be a busy weekend.

The Intermediate Camogie team make the trip to the west of Ireland to play Galway in the National League, two of our colleges teams make the trip to Dr Cullen Park in Carlow in to play All-Ireland semi finals, our senior footballers make the trip across the Irish Sea to play London in the National League and to round the weekend off our senior hurlers take on Cork in the National Hurling League at Fraher Field.

The most recent meeting of Waterford and Galway came last August when the two sides met in the All-Ireland semi finals where Galway came out on top on a 1-14 to 0-13 scoreline.

Galway went on to play a very strong Derry side in the All-Ireland final which ended in stalemate and at the second time of asking the Northerners came out on top.

This it has to be pointed out is Galway’s second string team but none the less it is expected to be a very formidable outfit.

In last years game between the two Dee Burke, Emma Kilkenny, Róisín Callanan and Rachel Monaghan amongst others stood out for the Tribes ladies and if they have not been promoted to the sides first string team, they could well be key to them again this year.

Last time out in the league Waterford suffered a defeat away to Meath. The panel of players on the day shows that just thirteen were in the panel that played Galway in the championship last year.

Waterford’s mist famous player Trish Jackman will be crucial to the side this year but are by no means a one person team as the likes of duel players Fiona Morrissey and Shona Curran are also players of note as are the likes of Vicky Falconer, Jenny McCarthy, Zoe O’Donoghue, Jennie Simpson and Niamh Rockett while Karen Kelly and Aisling who were part of the Waterford team that played in the 2011 All-Ireland Final and were back in the panel against Meath having missed much if not all of 2012.

The game against last years beaten All-Ireland finalist is not going to be an easy one for Waterford. However, the team has to travel with some confidence. Just four points separated the sides last year, and while Waterford could well show to have a number of the changes from the team that day, they despite the possible changes to the team could well prove to be somewhat stronger.

The game at Duggan Park in Ballinasloe has a 2-30pm start and for those that travel to the game it will be preceded by the meeting of Galway and Clare in a division one game.

On Saturday afternoon Saint Augustine’s College take on Adare Community School in the All-Ireland ‘C’ Football Colleges semi finals.

Saint Augustine’s reached this stage of the competition following an excellent 2-14 to 0-5 victory over St Michael’s from Listowel in the Munster Final.

The Louth side only qualified for this game during the week when they beat Lucan CBS in the Leinster Final.

While they have had little time to recover from this game they are a side that will have to be watched very carefully.

In the middle of the field Kevin Traynor could well prove to be a difficult player to keep an eye on and has a habit of getting his name on the score sheet, while their full forward line of Ryan Burns, Martin Duffy and Ryan Rooney could well prove to be very dangerous if given the chance.

Saint Augustine’s will fancy their chances of winning this game. They have some fine footballers, especially in Tadhg Bourke who was very impressive in the senior football championship with Clashmore last year. Laurence Power, Tom Devine and Seamus Keating are also players that are more than capable of holding their own and will be crucial to their sides hopes.

The game between St Augustine’s and Ardee Community School has a 1-30pm start and will be followed at 3pm with the meeting of Dungarvan CBS and Heywood Community School from Laois in the All-Ireland Senior ‘B’ Hurling semi final.

At times it is all to easy to criticise board officers and fixture planners. When they get something right it is only right to praise them. Who ever had the idea of playing these two games at the one venue well and truly had their head on their shoulders.

One of these sides may be in Dungarvan, the other in Abbeyside and the rivalry between the two is well noted. However on this occasion, all rivalry will be forgotten and both will travel with their supporters as a united bunch along with their supporters and will be roaring on each other in both games.

There does appear to be a lot of jealousy towards Dungarvan CBS and Dungarvan Colleges this year. There is a rule of thought that Dungarvan Colleges should not have been allowed to play in this years Dr Harty Cup and that Dungarvan CBS and St Augustine’s should be fielding on their own.

It should be pointed out that compared to other schools they are small and even grouped together, their pick would fall somewhat short of what other schools that took part in the competition would have had.

Of the Dungarvan Colleges set up, its fair to say that Dungarvan CBS are the stronger part of the make up, and on their own in the Division two competition have got people to sit up and take notice. But are they good enough to be in Division one as some suggests.

In the Munster Final they drew with St Joseph’s from Tulla, and needed a strong showing in extra time before they won through.

Since then, they have played opposition from Cahir in the All-Ireland Quarter Final at Kirwan Park in Touraneena, where the game proved to be a total miss match.

They were able to take the likes of Patrick Curran, Michael Harney and Ryan Donnelly off well before the end of the game, and start without the services of Darragh Lyons and Colin Dunford and still win more than comfortably.

This time out the Laois side are expected to provide stiffer opposition. They had a 0-13 to 0-7 victory over Colaiste Eoin in the Leinster Final recently.

The midlander’s are expected to field some very good players. Kevin Bergin in the middle of the field could well prove to be vital while in the full forward line Darragh Cripps and Eoghan Fennelly will have to be watched very carefully.

Dungarvan CBS this time out are expected to be without Colin Dunford who picked up a serious injury in the Dr Harty Cup Final against Our Lady’s from Templemore, however Darragh Lyons could well be back in the starting line up.

Up the middle, Dungarvan CBS are expected to be very strong. Full back Kevin Daly plays centre back for Dungarvan Colleges, while in front of him Kieran Barron, Kealan Looby and Jack O’Donnell will form a strong half back line. In the middle of the field Christy Breathnach and Cormac Curran who impressed in the All-Ireland quarter finals will be expected to continue where they left off while in attack Ryan Donnelly and Michael Harney would be expected to be vital in the half forwards while Darragh Lyons, Aaron Donnelly and Patrick Curran could prove if selected to be a lethal full forward line.

Waterford Senior Footballers will be hoping that they get back to winning ways in the league this weekend when they take on what should be a strong London side at Ruislip.

Every team it could be argued is entitled to one bad result so hopefully for Waterford their defeat to Limerick was just that.

On the night Waterford had a very bad night in front of goal kicking a higher than average amount of wides over the course of seventy minutes, while just two players got on the score board.

Nothing official has been said yet, but it is expected that changes will be made to the Waterford team.

Gary Hurney who came into the team after twenty minutes the last day having completed a suspension picked up in the 2012 campaign, and made a telling contribution hitting five of Waterford’s six points.

He is reported to be in the starting line up this coming weekend but it remains to be seen who drops out.

The Exiles while they have won no game to date in this year’s competition have proven to be no push overs. While clubs and counties up and down the country have lost players because of the economic times that we live in, London to a degree has benefited as many have opted to head to London and its environs in search of any work that may be available instead of the likes of Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the United States that most are moving to, and having moved across the Irish sea they have switched their elegance to them, rather than to head over and back the Irish sea to get their quota of games.

In Ciarian McAllion, Padraig McGoldrick and Eoin O’Neill amongst others they have some quality players and will cause trouble for most defences.

To date in the league, Waterford have proven to be tough to break down at the back and when the team to play London is officially announced this evening there wont be any changes unless they are forced upon Niall Carew and his selectors.

In the middle of the field Waterford is again doing ok but up front there does appear to be some problems despite the fact that there are some quality players to choose from.

The problem may well be the system deployed by the management team who seem to favour a defensive type of game and when this happens it means that there is fewer players available to score when the ball is hit into the oppositions half of the field.

Make no mistake, Waterford have it in them to collect another brace of points in London. If the forwards are to play as they can, then a points should be Waterford’s but a repeat of the game against Limerick last week and our chances of winning promotion from Division Four in a few weeks could well be over with three games still to play.

With due respect to the other Waterford sides in action this weekend it is the senior hurlers that are likely to attract most support and interest.

Last time out, against all the odds in the eyes of most, Waterford beat a fancied Clare side in Ennis even if it look a late free to do so.

Cork last time out looked very impressive in beating Tipperary at Pairc Uí Rinn. How good were Cork on the night or how poor Tipperary were is the major question. The answer could well lie in the fact that Jimmy Barry Murphy and his selectors have failed to give a vote of confidence to the team that beat Tipperary, or is it a case that they are merely giving some more of their panel the opportunity to show what they can do ahead of bigger games later in the year.

Down the years there has been some good games played out between the two sides. There has also been some epics. It would be asking a lot for this latest game to be the latter but it is expected that it would well fit into the former’s category.

Both sides are almost unrecognisable from the sides that played in the epic games over the past few years and many of the players on either side have hung up their inter county gear.

However, those that have come in to replace them are all quality players. They have grown up watching the likes of Diarmuid O’Sullivan, Donal Óg Cusack, Joe Deane, Sean Óg Ó hAilpin, John Mullane, Dan Shanahan, Paul Flynn and Fergal Hartley star in some of these battles and know what is expected of them.

Facing the opposing team’s colours will not phase those that will play this Sunday. They have played against each other on many occasions from under 14 level upwards and will know each other well. Not only will they know each other from playing against each other but with each other.

With so many people now in College, many of the players will have been involved in the recent Fitzgibbon Cup. WIT, UCC, CIT, UL and LIT are amongst the sides with a large amount of inter county players and will have played with and against players that they would normally play with and against. They will know many of their opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.

On Sunday, supporters of both teams will get to see many of the stars of the future. A win for both sides is a must. Which ever side does come out on top will have one leg in the semi finals of the league, while the looser on Sunday will have to ensure that they get at least two points from their remaining three games to avoid a potential banana skin relegation play off game in a few weeks time.

Five Waterford teams will be in action this weekend. Five wins for the five sides would be brilliant, but would be asking a lot. If Waterford were to win three or more of the games, it would be brilliant.