A Déise win in Fraher Field would secure semi final spot

In the last few weeks, there can be no disputing when it came to our Ladies teams and the GAA where all our attentions were focused.

Lismore’s path to All-Ireland glory is well documented by now. The past two weekends have seen the counties Intermediate Camogie team narrowly miss out on victories in their games against Meath and Kildare. The defeats mean that despite the fact Waterford have yet to play Cork, the county cannot qualify for the semi finals of the league.

The Presentation Convent schools and the County Minor Camogie team have also played important games over the past weekend, but this weekend the main focus switches from Camogie to Football.

Already in the past week there has been good wins for the counties Under 16 team against Kerry and for the counties under 14 side against Tipperary, a victory that means that the county are through to the Munster ‘B’ Final where they are bidding for a three in a row of titles and they also play Kerry in the Munster ‘A’ Semi final in the coming weeks.

However, the main focus of attention this weekend will be on Sunday when Waterford takes on Leitrim at Fraher Field in the sixth round of games in this year’s National Football League.

Both sides go into this weekend’s game in good form. The home side need just one point from their last two games to secure a place in the semi finals, while Leitrim should they collect a full brace of points in any of their last two league games it should secure them a place in the semi finals.

Leitrim this year are under the guidance of Martin Dolan and have been playing well up to now.

They began their league campaign with a 9-9 to 6-6 win over Sligo and followed it up with a 2-12 to 0-7 win over Longford and 3-9 to 0-9 win over Offaly, but in their last two games have gone under to Wexford on a 2-11 to 0-13 score line and last time out suffered a heavy 6-18 to 0-6 defeat away to Armagh who are the favourites to win this years Division three league final.

Throughout the campaign they have had some very good performance from the likes of Amy McLaughlin, Marina Gray, Claire Beirne, Sarah McLaughlin, Áine Tighe, Áine Heslin, Sharon Kerrigan, Mary Farrell, Lorraine Brennan and Róisín Fowley who will all have to be watched carefully by the Waterford team.

Waterford up to now has been very impressive in the league.

Against Offaly at the Gold Coast Grounds Waterford proved too strong for last years Division four league as well as the Leinster and All-Ireland Junior Champions, winning on a 3-13 to 1-5 score line.

Against Wexford who were beaten in last years All-Ireland Junior final Waterford again put up another very big score winning 5-15 to 1-9.

Tipperary were expected to provide stiff opposition for Waterford at Fraher Field in round three and the side who are managed this year by former All-Ireland hurling winner John Leahy did not disappoint as they made Waterford work very hard for a 2-8 to 1-10 victory.

In Round four Waterford again put up another very big score putting 6-15 past Longford who put five points on the score board against a very tight Waterford defence on the day.

Waterford’s last game was against Sligo on March 9, and resulted in a 1-15 to 1-9 win for Sligo at the IT Sligo grounds.

Waterford are once again under the guidance of Pat O’Brien and he has got some good performances from his side this year.

He has been unable up to now been able to call upon the likes of Aoife Landers, Ann Dunphy, Shona Curran and Grainne Kennelly who are amongst the first names on the tea sheet over the years when they are available. He and his selectors have brought in some excellent good young players and they have not let him down.

Margaret Revins is in top form playing on the edge of the square and along side here Hannah Landers is in the form of her life. Michelle Ryan is also at her usual best and unsurprisingly is the sides’ top scorer up to now and Aileen and Linda Wall continue to be a treat to all sides they play against.

Elaine Power and Michelle McGrath continue to be a top class pairing in the middle of the field. Amy Jordan and Grainne Costello have share goalkeeping duties, while Karen McGrath, Nora Dunphy, Louise Ryan, Mary Foley, Mairead Wall and Roisin Tobin have been very impressive in the defensive positions.

Despite Waterford loosing to Sligo last time out and Sligo loosing to Leitrim in the first round of games, Waterford will be confident of a win here, which would mean that a place in the semi finals would be secured ahead of the meeting with Armagh who have already qualified for the semi finals ahead of the last two rounds games in the league.

A win for Leitrim at Fraher Field as well as a win for Tipperary against Longford at Monroe would mean that Waterford, Leitrim and Tipperary would all qualify for the semi finals along with Armagh.

However should Waterford and Tipperary win this weekend, and Wexford were to beat Offaly at a venue yet to be confirmed, it would mean that Wexford would still have a chance of making the semi finals as would Sligo and Leitrim which would make the final round of games on April 6 very interesting.

Tesco Homegrown NFL Div 3 Division 3

	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points For	Points Against	Points Diff	Points
Armagh	5	5	0	0	126	41	85	15
Waterford	5	4	1	0	112	56	56	12
Tipperary	5	3	2	0	100	70	30	9
Leitrim	5	3	2	0	91	93	-2	9
Sligo	5	2	3	0	105	113	-8	6
Longford	5	1	3	1	59	100	-41	4
Wexford	5	1	3	1	64	108	-44	4
Offaly	5	0	5	0	44	120	-76	0

Waterford are good enough to retain Division 1A spot for 2015 National League campaign.

The importance of this Sunday’s National Hurling League relegation play off between Waterford and Tipperary cannot be emphasised enough.

In recent years the team dropping out of Division 1A into Division 1B has become a bit of a yo-yo with the team moving back to the top division at the first attempt, but sooner rather than later that is not going to happen. Defeat for Waterford this Sunday could well prove to be a disaster.

Let me say from the outset, I have every confidence in the players at the disposal of the Waterford selectors. We are all aware that they are some very good players in the group and good players do not become bad players over night. I firmly believe that Waterford has what it takes to beat Dublin, but will it happen.

For Waterford to drop down does not mean that the county will automatically come back up to Division 1A at the end of the 2015 league just as Cork have done this year and Dublin last year.

There are some very good teams in Division 1B. Limerick for example was in last years All-Ireland semi final and they are playing in the division now a few years. Former Wexford manager Liam Griffin also from what he had to say recently in the National Press must feel that the ‘Yellow-bellies’ are good enough to play in Division 1A but under the present structures, they are unable to finish in a position to do so. Laois are a side that have put it up to most in the league this year, and have reached the quarter finals on merit. They may not have the household names that other counties have but they have what appears to be a side that want to go places.

Antrim and Offaly are in a relegation battle this weekend. One of these sides will retain their place in the division for 2015 while the looser will play the winners of the Division 2A league final between Carlow and Kerry and with due respect to these two, which over of Offaly or Antrim were to loose this weekend would be the favourites going into that play off game to see who would play in Division 1B next year.

It’s hard to know where Waterford is right now when it comes to the senior hurling inter county scene.

Depending on who you listen to Waterford were unlucky to loose to Tipperary in the first round of games in the league. Maybe we were. Tipperary scored a very lucky goal direct from a long range free to win the game. There first goal was in the eyes of some handed to them as both the ball and the man was not watched by a number of Waterford backs. On the night however, Waterford never even looked like creating half a goal chance and throughout the league up to now, this is Waterford’s biggest downfall.

In Waterford’s two home games just as in the case of 13 of the 15 games played to this weekend, victory went to the home side. In both games while Waterford put up a good tally of points on the scoreboard which at times can in a way compensate for the lack of goals, again Waterford failed to create many chances.

The first half of the game against Clare in Ennis is best forgotten. Waterford was like a dog left in the traps at the start of a derby race at Shelbourne Park or any other such venue. The All-Ireland Champions had the game sown up by the break. And while Waterford played much better in the second half, a person could well ask how hard did Clare actually try in the second half, as they hit just four scores in the second thirty-five plus minutes.

What happened against Kilkenny was amazing. At the break despite now playing as good as we know they can in the first half, Waterford were well in contention, but in the second half, were blown away by a superior team much in the same way Clare had done in the first half of the game a week earlier. This was a very hard result for many to stomach. Some that have watched Waterford over a long number of years have said it was the most embarrassing result in many years, maybe the most embarrassing result ever, surpassing the defeat in the 2008 All-Ireland Final.

It’s well documented that Waterford remained in the dressing rooms for a long time after the defeat to Kilkenny last weekend. No doubt behind closed doors a lot of words were said, a bit like after the 2011 defeat to Tipperary in the Munster Final when the sides met after the game. On that occasion, Waterford’s next game was against Galway in an All-Ireland quarter final, a game where Waterford played their best hurling since the designation of Justin McCarthy and something tells me that we could well see Waterford this weekend come out a much different team to the one that we have seen in recent games.

Good players do not become bad players over night and Waterford has some of the best players in the game right now in their panel and also some of the best up and coming players as well.

Waterford’s problems stem from the tactics used. There were times in recent games when the Waterford tactics resembled what you would see on a rugby field, whereby you have to have players behind the ball. At times we may have one or two players at max inside the oppositions half of the field. Can a team win where you have one or two players trying to keeping an eye on six players who are holding their positions?

You have some that say taking a player from your opponents half of the field and playing him in your own half of the field opens up space for your forwards. Maybe it does, but playing extra players in your own half of the field often means that you could have too many cooks in your own half and we know what too many cooks can do.

I have to repeat what I said earlier. I have every confidence in the Waterford players, and I believe that they are good enough to beat Dublin this weekend, but it could mean having to play six back and six forwards with the two centre field players used as a link between the two.

For the game however, we may have to see some changes in the personnel starting the game.

Nine goals have gone past Waterford in the last two games. This is bound to have absorbed some confidence from the players used in these games. Maybe however, with a change in the tactics, this could well change and then the same players could be successfully be used from the start.

Stephen Daniels is some weeks off we are told from been available for selection. Darragh Fives some are saying could come in for a place in the start but I was told by a club player recently that the Tourin Man may not be available for selection until championship time, while Liam Lawlor if his injuries worries have cleared up could also come in from the start as could Barry Coughlan.

In attack Jake Dillon is reported to be set to miss this weekend’s game again, and it’s reported that Maurice Shanahan may not be fit to start. If the De La Salle and Lismore club men are not available for the full seventy minutes it will be a blow to Waterford but we have some adequate replacement.

Austin Gleeson impressed last weekend on his debut and capped his performance off with an excellent score from a second half side-line cut.

Seamus Prendergast was in the games up to last weekend was one of our best players and it was a surprise that he did not start against Kilkenny. He caused Dublin plenty of hassle last time out and he would be expected to start from the start this weekend.

Could we see maybe Shane O’Sullivan move into the forwards with maybe Stephen Molumphy going out to the middle of the field to replace him? Could we also see Ray Barry start this weekend? In the games that he had played up to last weekend he impressed immensely and when he came on for Maurice Shanahan he again made a telling contribution. And maybe could we see Jamie Barron used in the corner forward positions where he is best suited as he would be a goal treat with his pace if good ball was played into him.  

As pointed out already, in 13 of the 15 games played in Division 1A this year victory has gone to the home side. With five more games to be played this weekend, it’s unlikely that we will be saying that victory has gone to 18 of the 20 teams that played at home. Hopefully however we can say that Waterford were one of the 16 or 17 teams that won with what advantage playing at a home venue offers.

Last round of games in National Hurling League this weekend - what it could all mean.

If you were listening to the Big Breakfast Blaa on W.L.R.fm this morning, you will have heard predictions made by Keith Barry over a month ago read out, some of which have come through and one was marginally out. One or two of his predictions can still happen, and according to one, we have noting to fear this weekend in the National Hurling League and Waterford will beat Kilkenny by a small margin, meaning Waterford will qualify for the quarter finals of this years league next weekend.

However, we still might need to have the pen and paper at the ready this Sunday afternoon to work out what four teams will qualify for the knockout stages of the competition and what two sides will have to play off next weekend to see which side will drop to division 1B for the 2015 league.

Four of the six teams in Division 1A will qualify for the quarter finals of the league along with four teams in Division 1B. The top team in Division 1A will play the fourth team in Division 1B, the top team in Division 1B will play the fourth team in Division 1A and the second team in Divisions 1A and 1B will play the third team in the opposite group.

Clare currently top Division 1A with six points and are through to the quarter finals. The other five sides are all in with a chance of winning one of the last three places in the quarter finals from the Division.

Galway are currently in second place in Division 1A and a draw in Ennis would seen the Tribesmen advance to the quarter finals. The Winner of the game between Waterford and Kilkenny would also advance while a draw should be good enough for Dublin against Tipperary, but if Tipperary were to win then it could make things rather interesting.

This year’s league is proving to be very close and it would not be too surprising to see two or three teams finish on six points and it is also possible that a number of teams could finish on four points.

Should this happen, the final placing will be decided in a number of ways.

If two teams were to finish on the same amount of points then the winner of the game between the two sides will top the group, as what happened last year when Galway finished above Waterford in the league despite Waterford having a better score difference.

Where three or more teams were to finish on the same about of points, then the results games will not be used. Instead score difference would be used.

If three or more teams were to finish level on points and were also to finish with a similar score difference, the team that scores the most over five games would be the higher placed team and if by some strange coincidence teams were to finish with the same amount of scores, a play off would be used to decide who would top the group.

Should Waterford win in Nolan Park and secure a place in the quarter finals, should they be paired with a team that had three home games in the league section of the competition, Waterford would have home advantage. The same would apply to any team that played two home games that advances to the quarter finals.

However should Waterford or any other team advance that played two home games and are paired with a team that played two home games, then home advantage will be decided by a toss of a coin. The same would apply where teams that had three home games and paired together would apply.

The team that tops Division 1B in addition to winning a place in quarter finals, they will play in Division 1A next year.

The four teams that will contest the quarter finals from Division 1B are known ahead of this weekend’s games. Cork, Limerick, Wexford and Laois have all qualified for the last eight. Only the final placing is to be decided this weekend.

Antrim and Offaly are set to meet this weekend in Tullamore, but regardless of the outcome of the game, the two will have to meet again a week later where the looser will have to play the winner of Division 2A (Kerry or Carlow) to see who will play in Division 1B in 2015. The winner of the second game between Offaly and Antrim will safeguard their place in Division 1B.

Cork can guarantee themselves top spot and a place in Division 1A of next years league should they beat Wexford at Pairc Ui Rinn. If the Model County men win and Limerick were to beat Laois, then Limerick would top the table as a result of their win over Wexford earlier in the league. If the game at Pairc Ui Rinn was to end in a draw and Limerick were to win their game with Laois, then score difference would be used to separate Cork and Limerick who would end level on points as the two drew in the opening round of games. As things stand, Limerick has a superior score difference to Cork so they would top the group.

Division 1A League Table

Pos	Team	P	W	L	D	F	A	Points
1	Clare	4	3	1	0	96	81	6
2	Galway	4	2	2	0	88	81	4
3	Kilkenny	4	2	2	0	97	92	4
4	Dublin	4	2	2	0	76	83	4
5	Waterford	4	2	2	0	74	81	4
6	Tipperary	4	1	3	0	90	103	2

Division 1B League Table

Pos	Team	P	W	L	D	F	A	Points
1	Cork	4	3	0	1	76	60	7
2	Limerick	4	2	0	2	90	64	6
3	Wexford	4	3	1	0	81	71	6
4	Laois	4	2	2	0	77	82	4
5	Offaly	4	0	3	1	81	95	1
6	Antrim	4	0	4	0	62	95	0

Division 2A League Table

Pos	Team	P	W	L	D	F	A	Points
1	Kerry	4	4	0	0	111	68	8
2	Carlow	4	3	1	0	82	55	6
3	Derry	4	2	2	0	65	80	4
4	Westmeath	4	1	2	1	62	72	3
5	London	4	1	2	1	55	65	3
6	Kildare	4	0	4	0	60	95	0

This weekends fixtures:

Division 1A –

Tipperary V Dublin in Thurles at 2pm. Referee - Brian Gavin

Kilkenny V Waterford in Nolan Park at 2pm. Referee – James Owens

Clare V Galway in Ennis at 2pm. Referee – Diarmuid Kirwan

Division 1B –

Cork V Wexford in Pairc Ui Rinn at 2pm. Referee – Barry Kelly

Laois V Limerick in Portlaoise at 2pm. Referee – Alan Kelly

Offaly V Antrim in Tullamore at 2pm. Referee – Johnny Ryan

Division 2A -

London V Kerry in Ruislip at 2pm. Referee – David Hughes

Carlow V Westmeath in Carlow at 2pm. Referee – Sean Cleere

Kildare V Derry in Newbridge at 2pm. Referee – John Keenan

For Quarter Final draws in Division 1:

Tipperary had 3 home and 2 away games:

Waterford had 2 home and 3 away games:

Galway had 2 home and 3 away games:

Dublin had 2 home and 3 away games

Clare had 3 home and 2 away games

Kilkenny had 3 home and 2 away games

Cork had 3 home and 2 away games

Limerick had 2 home and 3 away games

Wexford had 2 home and 3 away games

Laois had 3 home and two away games